Back onto the topic of The Goddess. I am fascinated by the Hindu Goddesses cdmohatta. Especially the concept of Shakti and Shiva. Like the Hebrew Goddess Sophia or Shekinah, Shakti is the vital life force that weaves through all things. The Goddess is perhaps seen as a more approachable deity, a sort of buffer between the people and the Creator. I guess as mothers we can understand that..<smile> Love and Light..

Hi Linda,

It's easy for me to relate to a masculine diety because I was raised in a christian tradition. Adding in the "mother" aspect was a wee bit strange for me at first, but as I got used to the idea I liked it better and better. A few years ago I read something about the Shekinah aspect of God and something just clicked. Now a mother-father-God makes perfect sense to me and I cannot imagine my view of God not containing a great mother aspect.

And I LOVE your articles!!!

I can't help but wonder why people cannot recognize the Goddess aspect of the Earth itself. When I see the new life coming up through the snow even in February, I am amazed at the complexity of this beautiful planet. The Earth knows what to grow, when to grow it, and how to nurture it. Isn't this a lot like motherhood?

Many religions see the Earth as not being alive or worthy of respect and honor. I see the Earth as being the means that keeps us all alive. Without the Earth we could not exist. I don't know what a Great Creator may be.. know one does. We can only guess.

But, I can see the Earth, I can feel the Earth, and I KNOW that it exists as our sustainer and our provider. And, because of that we should give her the love and honor that we are so quick at times to give to an unknown Creator.

Love and Light..

many years ago, I asked my Catholic Parish priest - a dear friend - to explain to me the concept of the Holy Spirit. I just couldn't get my head round it - Jesus, yes, God, well, ok - but where does this 'Holy Spirit' come into it?
His response bot surprised and delighted me.

"she", he said, "SHE is the Love that flows between."

Inspite of my views having changed, and my having chosen to follow a different path, his words still resonate with me as an acknowledgement of the Feminine alongside the Masculine.

Wonderful lesson Alexandra!

The Goddess never really left us. She has always been there in all of the religious teachings. We see her as Sophia, Shekinah, Mary, and especially in Gaia, the Earth.

She is and has always been the tread that weaves through
everything.


In Jeremiah 7;17-18 God speaks to Jeremiah saying;

�Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough to makes cakes to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out libations to the other gods, in order to anger me!�

He tells Jeremiah that if the people do not stop this worship and turn only to Him, a great catastrophe will befall them.

Their answer? �When we poured out libations to the Queen of Heaven, we had enough to eat, we had no war, and when we stopped doing that we went hungry and we died by the sword and through famine.�

They were angering him because the queen of heaven is a false god. There is only one God and He calls Himself, Father.

God is a mysoginist - ?!?

God is genderless. He refers to Himself as "Father" because of His dominating qualities are in the masculine realm. He is describing Himself in a way that we can more easily understand. Actually, the combination of male and female qualities combined are a more accurate description of God's image." Let us create man in our image" refers to both feminine and masculine qualities. Remember we are a reflection of HIM not the other way around.

Actually Lovelove, The old Goddess based religions were around thousands of years before Christianity was even thought of. The matriarchal societies were peaceful and community based. Women and children were highly valued and respected. They were no threat at all to the Christians.

But since the God of the Hebrews was a Rabbi, his opinion of women was Rabbincal based. And, since the newborn Christians based their entire basis on the book of the Hebrews, it is not surprising that between the two.. women became seen as unclean, responsible for all the sins in the world, and inferior to their male counterparts.

God, the Rabbi demanded that these unclean, Goddess worshipping women be punished for their sins. Temples to the Goddess were viciously demolished and people who refused to turn away from their peaceful societies were brutally punished.

The Goddess represented the Earth and it's cycles, the moon, the tides, the sun, the crops, the harvest, and community. What is wrong with that? What crime had the Great Goddess committed to bring the self righteous wrath of the Biblical God upon her?

Women are more than half of the world's population, and yet we are still not totally seen as being as intelligent, capable, and worthy as our male counterparts. We still bear the old dogma of a long gone civilization as a mark of sin.

If some women still wish to bow down at the feet of a God that considers them to be second best, unclean, the bearer of grief to the world, and subserviant to men... let them do so.

As for me, I refuse to honor that type of God. If I will not honor or respect a man who treats me with that kind of disrespect.. why would I honor a deity that thinks of me that way?