Divinely Female

One of the most esoteric shows on television is a one called "Xena Warrior Princess."  I remember the first time I saw it. I thought "This is strange." But it piqued my curiosity, so I watched it again. My second reaction was "This is very, very strange."

The first thing you notice in the show is women in leather bikinis kick-boxing. The second thing you notice is that the show appears to be based on ancient Greek mythology. You can see armies of centaurs marching to battle,  and occasionally a giant cyclops ravaging a village. There are guest appearances by Ares, Hercules, Callisto, and a wide variety of other ancient legends. If you know a  little bit about ancient mythology, you soon come to realize that the women on the show are mangling the mythology more than they mangle each other. Any good historian would certainly cringe at the episode involving a battle between the Amazons and the Romans.

You have to watch the show for months before you come to understand the depth to it. Yes, there is depth. There are profound lessons to be learned from such a strange and bizarre tv show.

The premise is this. Xena was born into a nomadic tribe of barbarians. For years, she led an army ravaging the countryside, burning villages, killing thousands of people for sport. Xena described herself as having an insatiable thirst for power. She was skilled in all the arts of warfare and could easily defeat a dozen well-armed soldiers single-handedly.

Then, one day, Xena met a young woman named Gabrielle. Gabrielle was a young woman on a spiritual quest for enlightenment, intent on preaching peace and love throughout the world. Unlikely as this may sound, the two women became friends and began traveling together. The show drops hints now and then to the effect that the two are more than friends, but it never comes right out and says that. It is clear that the two have developed a very tight emotional bond and have become quite committed to each other.

Xena comes to regret her past life. She vows to use her fighting skills to fight for justice. Together, she and Gabrielle travel from town to town, country to country, fighting demons and defending villages from people like those that Xena herself used to be.

These two women need each other. Xena without Gabrielle represents power with no conscience. Power with no conscience is evil. Gabrielle is Xena's conscience. Xena openly acknowledges that she needs Gabrielle to show her what is and is not worth fighting for. Likewise, Gabrielle needs Xena. Without Xena, Gabrielle would be a nice, sweet, affectionate but ineffective person. If she had not met Xena, and if she had succeeded in escaping being captured by slave traders, she probably would have married a farmer and had a few kids. She would have been an ideal wife and a wonderful mother. She and her family would have been very happy until someone like Xena burned their village. Now, there is certainly nothing wrong with being a good wife and a loving mother. But Gabrielle's quest to change the world would never happen.

Each of us has a piece of Xena and a piece of Gabrielle within us. We each need a conscience to help guide us, to make sure we work for good instead of evil, that we try to help further the cause of peace and justice. We each need strength, the will to succeed, the determination not to allow injustice to prevail. Like Xena and Gabrielle, we need to fight for compassion, not with swords but with our hearts. We must have courage to protect those we love, and never to surrender.

As you travel along life's highway, you will meet many people like Xena, the old barbarian Xena, people who use power ruthlessly. Keep in mind that thousands of men and women tried to defeat Xena with the sword. None succeeded. In the end, she was not conquered with a sword but tamed with a smile. There are times when it takes courage to smile. There are times when the easy thing to do is to give in to the temptation to lash out in anger and slit someone's throat. If we do that we lose. We need to use the Xena side of our personalities to stand firm in our convictions, unwavering in our beliefs, certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that love is the answer. For it is only with the strength of