I believe in a Supreme Creator Deity, nameless and ageless, neither male nor female. I believe that originating from this Deity are two aspects: female and male.
Despite being assured by Christians that God is not purely masculine, male pronouns are consistently used to describe every member of the trinity. The Creator is referred to as the Father, and the Holy Spirit, despite being given the feminine name 'Shekinah' in Hebrew, is always 'he' or 'it.'
Calling the Shekinah 'he' or 'it' is like calling Jesus 'she.' At best, it doesn't make sense. At worst, it is a desecration.
Consider the words used to describe the Christian god:
God, not Goddess. Father, not Mother. Lord, not Lady. King, not Queen. He, not She.
I was led to believe that my being unable to accept referring to God as anything but 'he' was due to a streak of feminist rebellion. (The Eve in me, I suppose). But I believe being unable to refer to God as 'she' is due to male chauvanism. It gratifies men, not God.
I asked myself; why does it repulse you so much to consider God as a She? What does this say about your opinion of the feminine aspect of God? What does this say about your opinion of God's female creation?
If God is not Mother, Lady, or Queen, then women are not a reflection of God. How can I love myself, my mother, my sisters or my daughters?
I refuse to call myself a Son of God. (I was told this applies to men and women equally, because under God we are all 'sons and rightful heirs.' As if this reference to the historical disinheritance of women makes it more palatable!) I will not compromise or diminish my Divine Femininity.
I am looking for my Goddess. The One in whose image I was created.
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3 comments:
God is not "male" nor is He "female." The culture of the Bible days was definately male chauvanistic, and therefore God told them to address him as "male" because that was their culture. They would not respect a female in the same way. That is not to say that he is a Man. Women are made just as much in his image as men. God is not limited by our cultural misgivings.
Thank you! So when talking about God I can say 'She spoke to me' without feeling blasphemous.
Everyone knows that western culture is patriarchal. Like me If you grew up in a patriarchal culture, it's a safe bet even if you are an atheist that you probably associate anything divine with a masculine identity. It's just conditioning, accept it and recognize it. If its binds are strong you may react to this comment with anger or strong emotion. Notice your feelings and question where they are coming from. A patriarchal based religion typically has God off in the sky somewhere, external from you. In our very much male dominated culture, were drowned in patriarchal ideals that have become such the norm they are seldom questioned. Yes?
Matriarchal religions focus on the divine within in everything and inside of you. Goddess is all that is. So patriarchy is generally externally God focused whereas matriarchy focuses more on the goddess in you and in everything. It is understandable that people might dislike things Divine being referred to using a feminine pronoun. Many people insist that God or the Divine is genderless. They are correct! But they miss the point completely.
Calling the one true creator "Goddess" is purely functional. It changes our thinking and identifications with patriarchy. If you really believe the Divine is genderless then why think of God as male? You do don't you? Truthfully answer that to yourself not me. Be honest. Personally I would rather think of the Divine as a loving mother then the judgmental father painted by most patriarchal religions. By making a conscious decision to think of the Divine as a feminine being, you put all your masculine cultural associations from the unconscious mind into conscious awareness. If you are going to release your cultural programming, first you have to find it.
Some might know that Buddha taught what he referred to as 'the MiddleWay' or Middle Path. This is a path that Leeds to enlightenment by avoiding the extremes of sensory self-indulgence and self-mortification. In order to find the middle path if one gets off balance in one area, it is useful to find balance by going to the opposite. Patriarchy and matriarchy, opposites – get it yet?
For our patriarchal religions to maintain their mind controlling ideas of a forbidding punishing God, it is essential that the best sources of true awakening and spirituality be suppressed and forbid. The work of the devil!! Be afraid and fear for your soul!! (now that's not coercion is it?). People that are awakened have direct irrefutable evidence of a Goddess within and could never be controlled or convinced otherwise. They do not need a priest or people telling them things that disagree with their own spirit.
Look at some of these ideas as "thought experiments" and try them out for yourself. Change your beliefs for a day, or a week, and see what surfaces for you. Does it change how you make decisions in life? Change your world, by changing yourself – Free your mind!
"The Christian resolution to find the world ugly and bad has made the world ugly and bad."
Friedrich Nietzsche
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