Being able to honor both genders in Deity, yet also realizing the beyond-gender nature of the Everlasting/Source may seem like a contradiction to some, but hey, it is possible to believe both.
+Katia
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Author Jennifer Reif wrote to our GoddessChristians Discussion Forum
God-Goddess, and the Sacred Balance
Hi All,
Every once in a while I go out on a limb, and here I go again. I do love Goddess-God, and view the Eternal through many wonderful myths that include gender-identified deity. At the same time I also see ‘That Which Created Us’ as without gender.
There are some who believe that “Feminine Consciousness” will save the world, but I think it’s individual caring and love that heals the woes of the world, person by person. The idea that only one gender, or the other, is will “save the world,” may not be the most helpful idea. It’s all of us, everyone who chooses to act with love and compassion, that can lend their blessings to what is a troubled world. Yes, we need to bring the Goddess back to Western Religion, and we have been doing that joyful work, but I think we need both Goddess and God, in balance, are needed together as iconic religious models.
We know that the Sacred Feminine was alive and present in ancient cultures: Celtic, Roman, Greek, Egyptian, and so on. In fact those of us who love the Goddess draw from these cultures. They had the Sacred Feminine, but this didn’t create the kind of justice that we seek today. It didn’t create a classless system, or eradicate poverty, or help the plight of the down-trodden. Her inclusion was wonderful, but it didn’t “save” the ancient world.
I think what saves the world is person-to-person compassion; acts of love, acts of charity, acts of kindness. Compassion is just an idea, unless good men and good women, apply it to everyday life. For me, God-Goddess, particularly Mary Magdalene and Jesus, most fully represent our humanity, our ability to act wisely with love and compassion. For me they are Goddess-God in Sacred Balance.
Love, Jen
Jennifer Reif
The Holy Book of Mary Magdalene: The Path of the Grail Steward
I agree with you Jen the world could do with a bit more compassion.
This author hit the nail right on the head, here is a hi-5 /’ for her. If the world would listen th her and St. Francis of Assisi, both peacemakers in my “book,” whe would have a much better world to live in.
I agree with you, Jen. Truly, the world will be a better place when there is balance.
“I think what saves the world is person-to-person compassion; acts of love, acts of charity, acts of kindness. Compassion is just an idea, unless good men and good women, apply it to everyday life.”
This is what it comes down to. A lot of people do acts in the name of someone/something else, god/goddess. I think people should believe in something better than themselves. They should have someone or something they can aspire to be.
But when it comes down to it, it’s how we act as individuals that makes the biggest impact.
You are absolutely right. I think it’s a shame (but it’s history) that deity is often referred to in the masculine. It contributes, in my view, gender inequality in our societies.
Thanks for your input. I don’t know if I consider gender a “lower quality issue”. Yes, it’s “of the flesh”, but some would say gender is also of the mind. All of Life is of the flesh, for that matter. Bodies are consciousness’s way of manifesting in the world. The great two currents, male and female, positive and negative, are like poles in an electric circuit. You get nothin’, no power, no energy, if you don’t have one of each to complete the circuit. Gender is kinda awesome because without it we would not have the two opposites required to assist life in its constant striving for itself. Life seems to have a single-minded aim to thrive and survive, perhaps the goal being to put consciousness into the material realm. (Putting brains — the most differentiated item in the Universe — into functioning bodies)
+Katia
@ JON, I think there is no such thing as gender inequality when you speak about deities. They’re supposed to be superior and dealing with lower quality issues such as gender would mean nothing to them. But if you talk about immortality, power , greed, lust, then maybe yes, they’ll do a great deal for it. But not for gender. That’s a very human-ish issue.
@Katia:
yes, you’re right. It’s actually all in the mind. the point I stated above is that there are things that the deities do not consider important, that includes gender. Why would they care about such in the first place when they are deities?
Daniel
Shisha Guy