The Coatlicue State, Crossing, and the Cave

[herwerdene]

As we've been reading Anzaldua's book, many of the philosophical ideas that we've discussed previously this semester have come up.  In today's discussion of The Coatlicue state and Crossing, it seemed to me that Anzaldua was describing Plato's Cave, which we discussed at the beginning of the semester. "My resistance, my refusal to know some truth about myself brings on...that Coatlicue state" (p 70). Her descent into the underworld, to me, seems like an attempt to stay in the "cave", in the ignorance of this self-truth she is denying. But she must face Coatlicue, and this truth, and make sense of it. Making sense of it "...is a dry birth, a breech birth, one that fights her every inch of the way" (p 71). This, to me, seems exactly like the path out of the Cave - unappealing, difficult, and painful. It is through this painful journey of crossing that one escapes "the arms" of Coatlicue and reaches a new understanding of one's own consciousness and gaining new perspectives. I find it particularly interesting that Anzaldua frames this idea in terms of her own experience and religion. Do you find this comparison of the Coatlicue state and Crossing with the Cave allegory to be accurate? Is the descent into the underworld really the "Cave", and what exactly does crossing, as Anzaldua describes it, bring about?