─ Chapter Sixteen ─ Patriarchy



Callum was no stranger to jealousy. It was one of the thorns in his flesh that he had to deal with. Folina and Patrick had spent hundreds of hours together delving into how women mystics had transformed the thinking of millions of people and revealed well kept secrets from ancient mystery schools.
Patrick had started this many years ago and Folina became his committed companion on their journey of discovery.

     Callum’s jealousy was not a huge issue, in fact Folina found it affectionately endearing and deepened her love for him. He was off on a lecture tour in Russia and the Baltic states with one of his chums from his time studying at Chartres. Before leaving for Kiev he had spent many hours in Castlethorpe’s new labyrinth, often at night. He had helped Jorge in designing another thirteen new labyrinth and three maze programmes – mazes were becoming increasingly popular with the students, staff and visitors.
     The theme of the tour was the title of his new book Going Around in Circles, with the subtitle ... is never a waste of time!  It was intended to counter many of the myths about labyrinth walking and why thousands of people, who had become obsessed with walking in labyrinths, had become over attached to the tool and had not encountered the Divine – instead they met a shadow of themselves – their ego. Jorge had created some new effects that Callum tried out as he walked – music, vibration and atmospheric sounds as each foot touched a plate. Callum was shown by Spirit that nearly all the people who were turning labyrinth walking into a kind of new religion were men. He experienced the profound power of patriarchy in those walks that nearly crushed him. The Divine revealed to him how thousands of women across the last four thousand years of human history were silenced in brutal ways from speaking what God had revealed to them.
     God showed him the truth of this Biblical passage “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Spirit implanted the truth of this phrase so deeply into Callum’s heart that he thought it would burst. He could not speak for several hours. Jorge asked his if he was okay after he had left the labyrinth and all Callum could do was raise his thumb and smile. Jorge knew that something wonderful had happened. He reset the Labyrinth to its automatic night mode programme, locked the control cabinet and went to his home. He thought about the radiant look on Callum’s face for some time before drifting to sleep and entering what was to be an amazing lucid dream with a nearly lost tribe deep within the Brazilian rain forest.
*
Walk into any high street bookshop and you will come across a large selection of self-help books. Put “self-help” in the search line on Amazon and you are presented with pages and pages of books on seemingly every topic that a human being may be interested in that will, or shall I say, the authors claim will change your life in the particular way that you seek. Enter “spiritual self-help” into Google and you get 74,600,000 hits. That would keep anyone busy!
     Val had been thinking about our sound bite society for some time. She recalled a friend, a senior manager in an NHS Trust who said “I just need one side of A4 on how we can transform our community mental heal service.” Val remembers the look on her friend’s face; it was one of shock and incredulity. “How on earth does she expect me to set this out on one side of A4. I maybe a witch (she was) but I’m not a magician!”. Val recalled the news programmes, even the in-depth interview ones but even these were just snippets of superficiality. She had no idea about the book she would buy later that week.
*
     Val wandered up Charing Cross Road having spent two delightful hours in Watkins, her favourite book shop. Its two floors are stacked with titles on pretty well every conceivable religious, philosophical, paranormal, spiritual, new age, esoteric and other unpronounceable subjects. Its atmosphere draws you in and it’s hard to leave without buying something. This is how it describes itself:
Over a century ago, Watkins, the “University of Rejected Sciences”, was born. In March 1893, John M. Watkins issued the first second-hand and remaindered book catalogue in his own name, giving 26 Charing Cross in the centre of London as his business address. He eventually moved the business to its present famous site at No.21 in Cecil Court in 1901. Two frequent visitors in those very early days were the Irish poet W.B. Yeats, himself a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and G.R.S. Mead, author of numerous works on Gnosticism and a prominent figure in the Theosophical Society.
   The late 19th century was a time of vigorous questioning of long-held beliefs about the nature of man, his origins and his destiny as well as of the universe, which he inhabited. All these developments were to have a considerable impact on the thinking of many intellectuals preoccupied with spiritual and metaphysical questions. Amidst this intellectual upheaval there arose several organisations putting forward alternative views of man and his spiritual nature. There was an upsurge of interest in the hermetic and Kabbalistic traditions, an impulse that lay behind the formation of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Additionally the new interest in the spiritual and metaphysical culture of Asia was to find an outlet in the founding of H.P. Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society in America, Britain and India.
   John Watkins was a friend and disciple of H P. Blavatsky and was himself personally involved in seeing the first edition of The Secret Doctrine, her great metaphysical classic, through his printing press. The ideal of founding the bookshop is said to have occurred to Mr Watkins in a conversation with Madame Blavatsky in which she lamented the fact that there was nowhere in London one could buy books on mysticism, occultism and metaphysics.
   Watkins was joined by his son Geoffrey in 1919. John M. Watkins died on the 19th August in 1947, venerably aged 85. As a child Geoffrey met many of the leading occult figures of the time; MacGregor Mathers, W.B. Yeats, George Russell, Aleister Crowley, all visited the shop and A.E. Waite was a lifelong friend of Geoffrey Watkins, as were many other occult authors. After the death of his father, Geoffrey acquired the lease to No.19 Cecil Court.
   Geoffrey continued to run the day-to-day business, a veritable walking encyclopaedia of philosophy, religion, and the paranormal. At this point Stuart and Robinson, wealthy and regular customers associated with the Gurdjieff and Ouspensky movement arrived to help. They bought Geoffrey Watkins out and rejuvenated the shop, but kept him on as a genteel backroom presence to advise the inquisitive customer on hand. They also expanded the publishing wing and went on to create an Ecology Bookshop in Belgrave Square.
   Watkins Books, by the end of the decade of Disco, Watergate, and Trade Union strikes itself started to suffer from the pressures of rapidly soaring rents and rates, not to mention increasing competition, and the two partners found that running the shop was no longer financially viable. Geoffrey died in the early 1980s.
   In the Orwellian year of 1984, after Geoffrey’s death, the bookshop was sold to Donald Weiser, the American publisher of oriental and occult books; Henry Suzuki, the manager of the erstwhile Weiser Bookstore in the New York metropolis; and Robert Chris, whose uncle (of the same name) had been a bookseller of 20th century English literature and poetry in Cecil Court since 1934. On the death of Robert Chris Senior, his nephew and his wife Val turned 8 Cecil Court into London’s first bookshop specialising in complementary medicine and healing.
   New ownership meant new energy including a complete refurbishment of our premises, opening up the basement and thereby doubling the amount of bookshop space and allowing for a far greater display of stock. Val brought over her business from No. 8 and thus added the “body” constituent to the Watkins “mind and spirit” tradition. They computerised all the internal systems, which was the only way to provide a worldwide database of customers with the kind of service that everyone expects today.
   In late 1999 Watkins Books Ltd. once again changed ownership and an ambitious programme of expansion was set in motion. Even today we have recently co-operated with Edge Media TV (now Controversial TV) to bring The Watkins Review to a wider audience. Through televised interviews hosted by the Review’s editor Stephen Gawtry, various authors discuss their books and subject areas. So far these include Judy Hall, Geoff Stray, Richard Sylvester, Z’ev ben Shimon Halevi, Caitlin Matthews, John Matthews, and Juliet Sharman-Burke. The programmes appear regularly on Sky Channel 200 and the schedule can be found at www.edgemediatv.com. The programmes are filmed in the bookshop and are well worth watching.
   In March 2010, Watkins Books was saved from administration by entrepreneur Etan Ilfeld. Ilfeld has retained the staff and is passionate about ensuring Watkins Books sustainability in the 21st century. Ilfeld is editor-in-chief of the Watkins Review, and, in October 2010, Ilfeld launched an interactive spiritual map of London.
     Val had indeed bought something, Issue 58 (Summer 2019) of the Watkins Review. She had a quick flick through and noticed an article about Jeremy Bailenson who had recently demonstrated his state of the art virtual reality studio to Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook. Zuckerberg said it “totally blew me away... I really thought I was going to fall off that narrow beam.” Bailenson, author of Experience on Demand, What Virtual Reality is, how it works, and What it can do, is taking virtual reality to the next level. He is one of Jorge’s friends and Jorge flew over to California a few months ago to walk on the same beam as Zuckerberg. The Virtual Reality Interactive Lab at Stanford University is also taking on another project in collaboration with Castlethorpe entitled “Enter the Labyrinth”. She also spotted an article about The Splendor Solis, described as the world’s most famous and enigmatic alchemical manuscript. “Hmmm, she thought, that should keep me occupied during the train ride home.” She tucked the magazine into her recently acquired leather satchel and continued up towards Foyles, another famous book shop.
     Foyles had changed a great deal though, to her relief,  there was an occasional pile of books here though nothing like the higgledy-piggledy and over stocked chaos that it was thirty years ago – a state that, actually, she rather liked in a charming kind of way. She wandered around all its many floors and mezzanines, overwhelmed by the thousands and thousands of authors, photographers, artists, illustrators and the multi-millions and millions of words that this store contained. She was determined not to buy anything though this turned out to be luke-warm as she stopped and picked up a volume on a display table just before she had decided to leave. Its title was The Sound Bite Society by Jeffrey Scheur. It was an updated version first published in 1999 – he had a lot to say about the changes in the last twenty years. Val read the sleeve.
SOUND BITES... ZINGERS... BUZZ WORDS... HYPE... NOISE
   We all know how these define the texture and culture of the modern electronic media. And we also know why our media climate resembles a dust storm on a barren plain: the bottom line of audience share. The impatience of the camera and the microphone, their need to gobble up one image or phrase and move on to the next. No depth or context; no background; no past, no future; no sometimes, no maybe, no why. But what does such a media environment really mean - how does it shape the values and ideals that underlie our political life? That is the question THE SOUND BITE SOCIETY sets out to answer. And the answer it comes up with is original and controversial.
   Critics on the right claim that the media are liberal; but those same conservatives are using electronic media with great success (consider a certain US President!)  THE SOUND BITE SOCIETY argues that television is ideally suited to flickering sound bites and simple, visceral messages and images; television relentlessly simplifies, and simplicity is the core principle of conservatism. TV likewise punishes complex ideas and messages, which are the core of liberalism. Television is thus a handmaiden of conservative ideals and an obstacle to progressive ones.
   The argument of THE SOUND BITE SOCIETY is mapped, and set in a broader context, in the Introduction. Chapter One examines the rise of the "Electronic Right," and challenges the familiar claim of the media's liberalism on a wide variety of fronts. Chapter Two analyzes the distinctive communicative language of television and its simplifying tendencies; Chapter Three considers the forms of simplification (including intrinsically complex forms) implicit in TV's overall picture of reality and effects on consciousness. In Chapter Four, the concept of complexity is explored along with its political implications. Finally, Chapter Five looks at how the rhetoric of the "Electronic Right" simplifies and distorts political discourse, how it contrasts to critical thinking and critical media literacy, and how the left might respond. In the concept of complexity, THE SOUND BITE SOCIETY offers an entirely new rubric for understanding the nexus of television and politics.
     Val usually voted for the Green Party though was largely apolitical. She bought the book uncharacteristically without hesitation and walked with purpose to Euston to catch her train. She arrived very early so got a coffee and, miraculously, found a seat. She reflected on the notion of soundbite and how this related to the spiritual seeker’s life. “Milk or solid food” shot into her heart from Spirit, closely followed by a rich flow of examples from religions, churches, authors, teachers, movements and groups who claim “ours is the way”.
*
The native ‘ōhiʻalehua tree is sacred to Hawaiians as a cultural touchstone and ecological underpinning for the state’s lush forests and abundant wildlife. The flowering evergreens that can tower to 85 feet comprise 80 percent of the state’s canopy, covering one million acres, and its nectar sustains birds and insects found nowhere else on Earth. Hannah bowed to what is a threatened species. It may be that unwitting tourists, seeking a more natural kind of “green” holiday, have introduced a deadly fungus on their shoes. The intricate balance of the Hawaiian eco system has been sustained for thousands of years yet, in a relatively very short period of time it is starting to break down.
     When Hannah reached her lodge she read more about the ‘ōhiʻalehua tree. Its blossoms have always been the first to sprout up after lava flows that wipe forests out. It has become synonymous with the bravest of warriors who were the strongest and first into battle. The tree is also associated with Laka, the goddess of hula, its flower used in leis for the traditional Hawaiian dance. In 2016, for the first time in more than 50 years, many hula schools were forced to forgo their adornments because of diminishing ʻōhiʻa stock.
     Hannah burst into tears and felt totally powerless in nearly everything she had been called to do. She was also desperately missing Akarsh who was the other side of the world leading a project close to his heart. Facetime brought them together now and then but she craved physical intimacy. She dried her eyes, poured herself a cool drink and sat in a rocking chair overlooking Rainbow Falls in the distance. This was a hallowed area and the local people say that a goddess resides in the Falls. The Middle East leaders that had come for the informal summit were staying in the nearby town of Hilo but Hannah preferred the serenity of her friend’s lodge.
     Her eyes were drawn to a National Geographic article entitled “Hawaii’s last hope to save the ‘ōhiʻalehua tree dies.” She read the article twice intensely - the sadness in her heart grew deeper and deeper. Spirit was revealing to her what the last snail of its kind was feeling as it ceased to exist in its current form.
     George, as people had come to call it was the last of its species, Achatinella apexfulva,  the Hawaiian tree snail. It died on New Year’s Day 2019. It was fourteen years old, which is quite old for a snail of this kind. George was born in a captive breeding facility at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in the early 2000s, and soon after, the rest of his kin died. That’s when he got his name - after Lonesome George, the Pinta Island tortoise who was also the last of its kind. For over a decade, researchers searched in vain for another member of the species for George to mate with, to no avail. These snails are hermaphrodites, two adults must mate to produce offspring.
     George’s death highlights both the vast diversity of indigenous snails - and their desperate plight. Snails were once incredibly numerous in Hawaii, and the loss of a species is a blow to the ecosystem. Records from the 19th century claim that 10,000 or more shells could be collected in a single day. These creatures are incredibly diverse. There were once more than 750 species of land snail in Hawaii, including a little over 200 in the tree snail family. When they arrived on the islands, the snails branched out and took on a variety of ecological roles. Some of these species came to function as decomposers—like earthworms, which are not native to the islands - and fulfil the essential ecological role of breaking down detritus.
     The Hawaiian tree snails specialize on the gunk that grows on leaves. As they feed they reduce the abundance of fungi on leaves while increasing fungal diversity - and because of that, they may have helped protect their host trees from diseases. Some biologists think healthy snail populations could have prevented the current outbreak threatening the ʻŌhiʻa tree.
     In some ways, these snails are more like mammals or birds than other invertebrates. They regularly live well into their teens, take five or more years to reach sexual maturity, and give birth to less than ten offspring per year. They’re revered in Native Hawaiian legends which hold that tree snails can sing beautifully and are known as the ‘voice of the forest’. It was revealed to Hannah that snails do in fact sing though only those blessed with special hearing can hear their ancient songs.
     Hannah’s heart leapt as she read that researchers have re-discovered dozens of species that they thought were extinct and found several new species. The snails that remain in Hawaii are in serious trouble, though. Most are only found on a single ridge or valley, and in recent years, declines have accelerated as introduced predators have started invading their last refuges.
     And the same thing is happening around the world. Land snails and slugs represent about 40 percent of the known animal extinctions since 1500, more likely disappeared before becoming known to science, and many species are now on the edge. If there’s any silver lining to George’s death, it’s that it might draw attention to this hidden extinction crisis hitting the globe’s molluscs while there’s still time to do something.
     It became a tradition amongst the snail researchers to stop at the spot where the last Achatinella apexfulva were found and pull out binoculars to scan the trees. They kept hoping they would find more but they never saw another. Thus, though George became sexually mature in 2012, he never had a mate. The snail lived over a decade in a terrarium of his own, and then, on the first day of 2019, he died. It’s remains were preserved in ethanol and his shell will join the more than 2 million other Hawaiian land snail specimens in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum’s malacological collection. Norine Yeung, the collection manager, pleads for these vital animals – “Please don’t forget them”.
     Hannah sat out on the porch once more as the last rays of sun sank below the tree canopy by the Falls. She thought nothing for a while. He tears had dried. She felt wretched. All because of Georgina, as she renamed her – “...well it was a hermaphrodite”, she thought. All because of one snail.
     Folina appeared then Sarah, without her wheelchair. They reached out to Hannah and hugged her. Her tears flowed once more but they came from a different place. Appearances like these were increasingly common, particularly when a soul group member was experiencing emotional or spiritual turmoil. The fact that Sarah was not in a wheelchair was different.
     ‘Sarah!?’ exclaimed Hannah.
     ‘Don’t get too excited, I just wanted a break from the chair and lots of things are possible when we travel for reasons like this. I’m still in it at Castlethorpe.’
     ‘Saves me asking’, she said with a sigh of relief.
     ‘I knew what you were thinking.’
     ‘Of course.’
     Hannah offered them a drink which they accepted.
     ‘I still don’t understand how you are physically here, that you are drinking natural juice out of cooled glasses that I have just poured.’
     ‘Is it important to understand?’ asked Folina.
     ‘I guess not’, replied Hannah wiping her eyes and flushed cheeks.
     ‘How are the talks going?’ asked Sarah.
     ‘There has only been one session but the presence of Masih has brought a significant change to the atmosphere in the room. Two other delegates objected to her presence as a woman saying “She has no place here. This is men’s’ talk.” Thankfully the recently appointed facilitator of the talks, Theresa Moore from New Zealand, nipped him in the bud with grace and authority and reminded him of the terms that all delegates had signed up to. The problem is still the supremacy of the nation state and the role of men – everything else is a side issue. Most of the delegates, apart from three, prefer to wallow in the sludge of the side issues that suck the energy and goodwill from the talks.’
     ‘Is your role changing at all Hannah?’ enquired Folina.
     ‘Yes, Theresa has, thankfully, taken over the facilitation of the actual events. I do all the negotiation and planning that lead up to them. My presence in these preparations and how the Divine shines through me is crucial to even getting people to talk with each other away from the prying eyes and ears of the world’s media. There has been a significant shift inside me here in Hawaii. Anything I experience just before and during the summit has some bearing on the talks.’
     ‘We know about Georgina, Hannah.’
     ‘You do?’
     ‘Yes, you are right, Spirit is allowing you to feel things deeply that will have an impact on the talks. The nation states present are almost entirely dominated by men. Women are persecuted and those that “stray” are vilified, tortured and imprisoned for embracing the ways of the West. We do not understand the significance of Georgina’s passing on this summit. It may or may not be revealed to you. We have come to fill you with support, love and encouragement. Several soul groups are activated and aware of your role here. Nothing that has happened here is an accident – particularly the death of one colourful snail. There are lessons that will have wonderful ramifications. You are called to be a channel of love. We will help you to open your heart even wider and allow the love of God to pour onto the most obstinate, chauvinistic and sexist leaders that you will meet with once more tomorrow morning.’
     They took one step back and vanished with arms outstretched to Hannah.
*
     Sarah loved to travel and had visited and worked in many countries around the world. In recent years she had become interested in the TED Talks phenomenon. She had no idea that the person who would shortly walk onto the TED stage in a classy business suit would actually be Táhirih, who was appearing amongst the soul groups with increasing frequency. Patrick had not done much research about her before their first encounter at Chartres when Táhirih  joined him, Val, Eleanor, Brother Lawrence and Teresa de Avila. Today Táhirih had a specific task and she was determined to impress. She knew exactly how it would be received because she was not tied to time. TED was an interesting choice for her talk about patriarchy.
     TED is not a person but a non-profit organisation dedicated to spreading innovative ideas and exciting discoveries through 18-minute talks delivered in front of live audiences at TED conferences. TED is an acronym for technology, entertainment and design, although the talks cover much more ground. They are not only informative, but often inspirational. They have surged in popularity because they are tailor-made for the social media age. Slickly produced videos of talks are posted for free online, and the best talks — especially the ones with a strong personal and emotional storyline — are shared all over YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.
     The story of TED starts in 1984, five years before the birth of the World Wide Web. It began as a conference in Monterrey, California, organised by architect and iconoclast Richard Saul Wurman. Wurman's original vision was to create the "anti-conference" — no boring PowerPoint slides and one-hour lectures. Groups of brilliant people took the stage and talked about the things that fascinated them. In 2006, a year after YouTube went live, TED made the inspired decision to begin posting videos of select conference talks online. The rest is viral video history. Sir Ken Robinson has racked up more than 34 million views for his 2006 talk, Do schools kill creativity? And he's only one of many speakers to enter the million-views club. All told, TED videos have attracted more than two billion views.
     In a 2013 article for the Harvard Business Review, Anderson outlined the process for creating an unforgettable talk. It begins six to nine months before the conference with what Anderson calls "framing the story," which means finding a clear starting and ending point for the talk. It can be tremendously difficult for an expert in a niche field like robotics or prison reform to give a talk that's accessible and engaging to 1,400 conference attendees, let alone a worldwide audience online.
     Bryan Stevenson, a prison reform activist, had never heard of TED before he was convinced to give a talk in 2012. After his 18 minutes on stage, which included a touching personal anecdote of an interaction with Civil Rights heroine Rosa Parks, Stevenson was approached by people who ended up donating $1 million to his cause. That's one instance where a talk was truly life-changing.
*
Táhirih drew near to Sarah and whispered into her ear “It is I and today I will talk as I which may cause a stir, but then that is what I’m good at and left this human form because of it.” she whispered with a giggle.
     Sarah glanced at the programme and noticed a long description about a famous woman called Táhirih.
Táhirih, "The Pure One," in Persian, also called Qurrat al-ʿAyn “Solace/Consolation of the Eyes" in Arabic are both titles of Fatimah Baraghani/Umm-i-Salmih. She may have been born in 1814 and died in 1852).
      She was an influential poet, women's right activist and theologian of the Bábí faith in Iran. She was one of the Letters of the Living, the first group of followers of the Báb. Her life, influence and execution made her a key figure of the religion. The daughter of Muhammad Salih Baraghani, she was born into one of the most prominent families of her time. Táhirih led a radical interpretation that, though it split the Babi community, wedded messianism with Bábism.
      Táhirih was educated particularly well for a girl of her era. A literate woman was itself a rare phenomenon and surprisingly her father decided to break from protocol and personally tutor his daughter. Though still living in a strict religious home, Táhirih was educated in theology, jurisprudence, Persian literature, and poetry. She was allowed to undertake Islamic studies and was known for her ability to memorize the Qur'an as well as being able to grasp hard to understand points of religious law. Her father was reported to have lamented at the fact that she was not a son. Táhirih was said to have surpassed her father's male students which further convinced him of her literary talents. Her father even allowed her to listen to his lessons which he gave male pupils, on the condition that she hide behind a curtain and not let anybody know her presence. Her father affectionately knew her as "Zarrín Táj" ("Crown of Gold").
      Under the education of her father and uncle, the young Táhirih was able to grasp a better understanding of theological and educational matters compared to her contemporaries. Girls were expected to remain docile and reticent and many were reluctant to allow their daughters to pursue an education of some sort. Her father Muhammad-Salih Baraghani was a writer in his own right and his writings laud the martyrdom of the Muhammad's grandson and third Imam Husayn ibn Ali and discuss Persian literature. He was reported to devote much of his time to scholarship rather than involving himself in the court, unlike his elder brother. Amanat cites that Táhirih was also known for her esoteric interpretation of Quranic verses.
      In 1844, she, through correspondence, found and accepted `Ali Muhammad of Shiraz (known as the Báb) as the Mahdi. She became the seventeenth disciple or "Letter of the Living" of the Báb, and rapidly become known as one of his most renowned followers. Táhirih asked the husband of her sister to send the Báb a message saying: "The effulgence of Thy face flashed forth, and the rays of Thy visage arose on high. Then speak the word, "Am I not your Lord?" and 'Thou art, Thou art!' we will all reply." As the only woman in this initial group of disciples, she is often compared to Mary Magdalene who, in turn, is likewise often considered to be a Christian antecedent of Tahirih. Unlike the other Letters of the Living, Táhirih never met the Báb. Continuing to reside in Siyyid Kazim's home, she started to promulgate the new religion of the Báb, Bábism, and attracted many Shakhis to Karbala.
      While in Karbala in Iraq, Táhirih continued teaching her new faith. After some of the Shi`ah clergy complained, the government moved her to Baghdad where she resided at the home of the mufti of Baghdad, Shaykh Mahmud Alusi, who was impressed by her devotion and intellect. Táhirih was stoned as she left for Baghdad. There she started giving public statements teaching the new faith and challenging and debating issues with the Shi'a clergy. Táhirih's behaviour was regarded as unbecoming of a woman especially because of her family background and she was received negatively by the clergy.
      Despite this, many women admired her lessons and she gained a great number of women followers. At some point the authorities in Baghdad argued with the governor that since Táhirih was Persian she should instead be arguing her case in Iran, and in 1847, on instructions from the Ottoman authorities she, along with a number other Bábís, were deported to the Persian border. A reason may have been her increasing note of innovation in religious matters – in his early teachings, the Báb stressed the necessity for his followers to observe the Islamic Sharia, even to perform acts of supererogatory piety.
      American Martha Root writes about Táhirih: “Picture in your mind one of the most beautiful young women in Iran, a genius, a poet, the most learned scholar of the Quran and the traditions; think of her as the daughter of a jurist family of letters, daughter of the greatest high priest of her province and very rich, enjoying high rank, living in an artistic palace, and distinguished among her...friends for her boundless, immeasurable courage. Picture what it must mean for a young woman like this, still in her twenties, to arise as the first woman disciple of [the Báb]".
      After her conversion to the Bábí faith, the poems of Táhirih flourished. In most she talks about her longing to meet the Báb. Her poetry illustrates an impressive knowledge of Persian and Arabic literature which Táhirih possessed, seldom seen in a woman in mid-nineteenth century Iran. One of the most famous poems attributed to her is named Point by Point. Although it is widely considered her signature poem and a masterpiece, it has been claimed by Mohit Tabátabá'i to be older and by someone else – though in making this claim he offered no proof and any argument to the contrary is not possible in Iran. When Táhirih was killed, hostile family members suppressed or destroyed her remaining poems, whilst her others were spread across Iran. It has been suggested that Táhirih had little interest in putting her poems in print. `Abdu'l-Bahá recalls that when he was aged five
      In June–July 1848, a number of Bábí leaders met in the hamlet of Badasht at a conference, organized in part and financed by Bahá'u'lláh, that set in motion the public existence and promulgation of the Bábí movement. Bábís were divided somewhat between those that viewed the movement as a break with Islam, centered around Táhirih, and those with a more cautious approach, centered around Quddus.
      As an act of symbolism, she took off her traditional veil in front of an assemblage of men on one occasion and brandished a sword on another. The unveiling caused shock and consternation amongst the men present. Prior to this, many had regarded Táhirih as the epitome of purity and the spiritual return of Fatimah, the daughter of the prophet Muhammad. Many screamed in horror at the sight, and one man was so horrified that he cut his own throat and, with blood pouring from his neck, fled the scene. Táhirih then arose and began a speech on the break from Islam. She quoted from the Quran, "verily, amid gardens and rivers shall the pious dwell in the seat of truth, in the presence of the potent King" as well as proclaiming herself the Word al-Qa'im would utter on the day of judgement.
      The conference of Badasht is considered by Bábís and Bahá'ís as a signal moment that demonstrated that the Sharia had been abrogated and superseded by Bábí law. The unveiling, however, led to accusations of immorality by Muslim clerics of the time, and later by a Christian missionary. The Báb responded to the accusations of immorality by supporting her position and endorsed the name Bahá'u'lláh gave her at the conference the Pure (Táhirih). A jailer who had personal contact with her lauded her character and behavior and modern women scholars review this kind of accusation as part of a pattern faced by women leaders and writers then and since in a way that Azar Nafisi says, "the Islamic regime today… fears them and feels vulnerable in the face of a resistance that is not just political but existential."
      After the conference at Badasht Táhirih and Quddus travelled to Mazandaran province together, where they then separated, very often facing harassment on their journey. There are conflicting reports as to the reason of this harassment. According to Lisan al-Mulk the harassment was due to their staying in the same inns and using the same public bath. In a different account the Babis are harassed by anti-Babi inhabitants of villages that they pass through. Finally when they arrived in Barfurush, they were given some shelter among the Babis.
      Nearby villagers attacked the Bábís and during that time Táhirih was captured and put under house arrest in Tehran in the home of the Mahmud Khan. Whilst in the house of Mahmud Khan she earned respect from women around Tehran who flocked to see her and even the Mahmud Khan himself. Táhirih seemed to have gained the respect of Mahmud Khan and his family members. This is also her first visibility in western newspapers.
      Later she was imprisoned for her beliefs. Though a prisoner, Táhirih still had relative freedom in the sense that she still taught her religion to people in the mayor's house. She openly denounced polygamy, the veil and other restraints put upon women. Her words soon made her an influential character and women flocked to see Táhirih, including one princess of the Qajar family who converted. The clergy and members of the court, however, feared that she had grown too influential, and they organized seven conferences with Táhirih to convince her to recant her faith in the Báb. Instead, Táhirih presented religious "proofs" for the Báb's cause and - at the last of these conferences - exclaimed "when will you lift your eyes toward the Sun of Truth?". Her actions horrified the delegation and were regarded as unbecoming of a woman, no less one from her social background.
      After the final conference, the delegation returned and began composing an edict denouncing Táhirih as a heretic and implying that she should be sentenced to death. Táhirih was the first Iranian women to be executed on grounds of “corruption on earth,” a charge regularly invoked by the Islamic Republic today. Táhirih was then confined to one room in the home of the mayor. She spent her last days in prayer, mediation and fasting. "Weep not," she told the mayor's wife, "the hour when I shall be condemned to suffer martyrdom is fast approaching."
      Two years after the execution of the Báb, three Bábís, acting on their own initiative, attempted to assassinate Nasser-al-Din Shah as he was returning from the chase to his palace at Niyávarfin. The attempt failed but was the cause of a fresh persecution of the Bábís and Táhirih was blamed due to her Bábí faith. She was told shortly beforehand about her execution. Táhirih kissed the hands of the messenger, dressed herself in bridal attire, adorned herself in perfume and said her prayers. To the wife of Mahmud Khan she made one supplication: that she be left in peace to continue her prayers in peace. The young son of Mahmud Khan accompanied Táhirih to the garden. To him she gave a silk white handkerchief with which she had chosen to be strangled.
      In the dead of the night in secret, Táhirih was taken to the nearby garden Ilkhani in Tehran, and with her own veil was strangled to death. Her body was thrown into a shallow well and stones thrown upon it. A prominent Bábí, and subsequently Bahá'í, historian cites the wife of an officer who had the chance to know her that she was strangled by a drunken officer of the government with her own veil which she had chosen for her anticipated martyrdom. One of her most notable quotes is her final utterance, "You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women." She was then aged about 35 and was the mother of three children.
      Dr Jakob Eduard Polak, the Shah's physician, was an eyewitness to the execution and described it as: “I was witness to the execution of Qurret el ayn, who was executed by the war minister and his adjutants; the beautiful woman endured her slow death with superhuman fortitude”. `Abdu'l-Bahá eulogized Táhirih writing that she was a "woman chaste and holy, a sign and token of surpassing beauty, a burning brand of the love of God”.  The Times on 13th October 1852 reports the death of Táhirih, describing her as the "Fair Prophetess of Kazoeen", and the "Bab's Lieutenant".
The lights dimmed in the auditorium and a young woman walked slowly and confidently into the spotlight. She remained silent for 30 seconds. Most people who give a TED Talk get on with it as they only have eighteen minutes. This did not matter to Táhirih.
‘The Emancipation Proclamation was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on 1st January, 1863. It changed the federal legal status of more than 3.5 million enslaved African Americans in the designated areas of the South from slave to free. Although slavery still exists today it is outlawed by most nation states.
      Not so for women. There is no presidential proclamation regarding the emancipation of women. These has never been a woman president of the United States. Men have dominated women for millennia. Patriarchy is alive and well to a greater or lesser extent in every nation state. Laws have been passed. Promises have been made but the status quo of male dominance and chauvinism prevails in all its ugly and subtle forms.
      Now if you think you are going to get a political speech - you will be disappointed. If you think you are going to get a religious sermon – you will be disappointed. If you think I am going to champion the equality of women - you will be disappointed. If you think I’m going to launch some kind of new women’s suffrage movement – you will be disappointed. If you think I’m going to attack male dominance and power – I’m afraid you will be disappointed. If you think I’m going to reinterpret history as written by men – you will be disappointed. If you think I’m going to help you to think and act like men in order to be treated as equals – you will most definitely be disappointed. And finally,  if you think I’m going to deny that men and women are different – well then, again, you will be disappointed. I can’t guarantee that you will be convinced by what I will say but I think I can say with complete confidence that you will, at the end of my talk, be shocked.
      I was a devout Muslim. I experienced at first hand the power that men had over women. In nearly every aspect of my life I was taught to be subservient to men.  I was forced to marry a man I did not love. I was discouraged from studying, from digging deep into ancient writings to find the truth that I knew, deep in my heart, was there to be uncovered. It was this uncovering of Truth and, later, the uncovering of my veil that was, ultimately, to be my undoing.
      As a little girl, thirsty for truth, it seemed to me that all the influential people in the ancient writings of every religion were men. This made no sense to me. The Patriarchs of the Jewish scriptures were not exactly great examples of how to win friends and influence people. You could be forgiven for thinking that all of Jesus’ disciples were men but take a closer look and it soon becomes apparent how important women were in his life.
      I suggest that our main problem is language. Many Latin-based languages have male and female nouns. I have no idea why a table is female in French! Bibles have been approved by men and their different translations have been approved by councils of men. It doesn’t matter what religion or spiritual movement you look at it’s all about the men.
      Consider the first three principles of spiritualism: The Fatherhood of God, The Brotherhood of Man and The Communion of Spirits and the Ministry of Angels. Angels, by the way, are usually described using male names such as Michael and Gabriel. They are, in fact genderless as many children can tell you. God is perceived as male. I could have spent my many years of study on a mission to find answers to these questions but even such a worthy pursuit would have been in vain. I would have been spending my energies in completely the wrong direction.
      I was sat quietly in the desert one day and an elderly woman came by with a herd of camels. She stopped, gazed at me and then asked if I would mind if she sat next to me while the camels refreshed themselves at the water nearby. We sat in silence for a while then she turned to me and said in the most beautiful soft voice that I have ever heard. “Look within my child. Look for God within you. That is what it means to be human.” The words roared and thundered in my soul. She smiled, called to her companion camels and then she and they went on their way.
      A year later a liberation theologian from Bolivia was visiting my country. He had learned about the most excellent way. It was not using the teachings of Jesus, Buddha or Mohamed to create a revolution. It was understanding the common thread that ran through all their teaching – that the real purpose of our lives on Earth was to learn that we are spiritual beings, that we are indeed God. We are one with God. I use the term God but please substitute any word you like such as Spirit, Divine, Great Ancestor, The Light – it really doesn’t matter.
      The one verse in the Bible that totally astounded me – and this takes us right back to where I started with the Emancipation Proclamation – is this from Galatians: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
      This is my message. This is the revolution. This is the solution – what we have been looking for all these years. There is no male and female in Oneness. We are the Body of God, Buddha, Mohamed, Christ, God, Great Spirit. This turns everything on its head about how each individual human being can see itself and how all human beings can see themselves. We are all one.
      Now, here’s the big secret. It is impossible to understand this intellectually. You will try but you will fail. You may get near then hear a counter argument and be thrown off course. You have to feel and sense Oneness spiritually. It is the only way.
      Nowadays it is rare for me not to feel spiritual, the Oneness of all life but years ago as I first learned this truth I had my doubts. The reason for those doubts was an arrangement between my mind and my ego and they relied on each other in vain attempts to steer me away from this profound truth.
      All of a sudden I realised how irrelevant emancipation, feminism  and  equality were. True, I got disheartened when I perceived the apparent ongoing dominance of male power but I saw so clearly the futility of fighting it. I am not against individuals and organisations that fight for women’s rights. I just know that it is not about winning. It’s about knowing deep within yourself that you ae neither male nor female.
      Thich Nhat Hanh wrote a lovely piece that illustrates what I am attempting to communicate.’
   “Let us visualize the waves on the ocean, several waves appearing on the surface of the ocean. Some waves are big, there are those that are small, and each wave seems to have its own life. A wave may have ideas like, “I am a wave. I am only a wave among many waves. I am smaller than the other wave. I am less beautiful. I last less than the other wave.” Ideas like that. A wave can be caught in jealousy, in fear, in discrimination.
   But if the wave is able to bend down and touch the water within herself, it will realize that while it is a wave, it is at the same time water. Water is the foundation of the wave. While waves can be high and low, more and less beautiful, the water is free from all these notions. That is why if we are able to touch the foundation of our being, we can release our fear and our suffering.
   Touching the foundation of our being means touching nirvana. Our foundation is not subjected to birth and death, being and non-being. A wave can live the life of a wave, but a wave can do much better than that. While living the life of a wave, a wave can live a life of the water. The more our solidity and our freedom grows, the deeper we touch the ground of our own being. That is the door for emancipation, for the greatest relief.
‘Our foundation, our essential human beingness, is not subject to birth and death, male and female, rich and poor, big wave or small wave, high class or lower class. We are all water. Water is God. We are God. We are all One in the Oneness. We are in human form for a time and when we die – I never liked the term “pass away” but I do now – when we pass away we return our true state in Oneness.
      This is the key that will unlock the paradox of gender. This is the key that will unlock the paradox of patriarchy, exposing it for what it truly is – a global manifestation of the ego.
      Who am I to make these bold claims? You can read about my life in your conference packs. My name is Táhirih. Had I continued in my human form I would have, today, celebrated my 205th birthday. As it turned out I passed away when I was 35 years old. I gave my veil to my executioner. He used it to strangle me slowly and painfully. I smiled as I died.
      Thank you for listening.’
     Táhirih  then vanished instantly from the stage. The silence in the auditorium was deafening. Sarah started to clap and this prompted a standing ovation. Some people thought this was a great magic trick to end with and that Táhirih would reappear to acknowledge the applause. She didn’t.
     Táhirih’s talk got over three million internet hits in the first 24 hours. She knew that the content might not grab people’s attention but she was confident that her sudden disappearance would cause a stir!