MOTHER MARY AND DIVINE FEMININE

“ My soul magnifies the Lord,
  And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
   For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
    For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
    For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
    And holy is His name.
       And His mercy is on those who fear Him
      From generation to generation.
      He has shown strength with His arm;
      He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
    He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
      And exalted the lowly.
  He has filled the hungry with good things,
      And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
      In remembrance of His mercy,
   As He spoke to our fathers,
      To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

(Luke 1:46-55 NKJV)

In my spiritual life, I have become very traditional, even "catholic" in broader sense of a word. So it is not so strange I have had to ponder on my relationship with Mary. But actually, it's not correct to say "ponder", since even as I have read a lot, first and foremost I consider myself a Mystic. Mystically speaking, I can put it this way: Mary originally approached to me in prayer, and now she has taken place by her Son in the centre of my devotion. When I first prayed the Rosary, it was very powerful experience. 

However, there is one thing that needs to be understood here: Although it's only natural I see her in traditional figure like artists have portrayed her through the centuries, it is not self-evident if I actually think she is Mary of Nazareth, mother of Jesus. She might as well be an Archetype. I have a same reservations about Jesus himself. But these are things I don't really trouble my head with. Practical relationship, prayer life, is important. 

God the Father is an abstract idea to me - perhaps due to my distant relationship wiht my own father - and that's exactly the meaning of Christ Jesus: Through Him the Father, whom no one has ever seen,  is manifested. Same could be true about Mary and the Holy Spirit, and even more about Mary and Sophia, Divine Wisdom. Who could actually say they understand who or what is Sophia, without using memorised phrases? Not me. But if Mary is, in a way, Sophia incarnated or earthly reflection of her, it becomes easier to comprehend. 

When we take a look at the Old Testament, we may find a concept of Shekinah, a name that in Heprew is feminine. It is used especially in Talmud and Kabbalah to describe feminine characteristics of God's presence, manifestation of her presence on earth. In literature Shekinah is also called the Holy Spirit, which is related to Wisdom of God, often personified as feminine in both the Old and New Testaments. Philo of Alexandria identified Wisdom with a concept of Greek philosophy, Logos, and as such, Christ - Logos - is often identified with Wisdom, but Wisdom is also seen as the bride of Logos. Theophilus of Antioch identified Sophia with the Holy Spirit. Heprew word for "Spirit" is feminine too, Ruach, but it was lost during translation from Heprew to Greek; The Holy Spirit, Pneuma Hagion in Greek, is neutral, and it was turned to masculine when translated to Latin!

Ancient symbol of feminine Divinity, a dove, is related especially to Mary in art, for instance, as Central figure in decent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Holy Family in canonical Christian iconography is also seen as an image of the Trinity: Joseph representing the Father, Jesus representing Christ, and Mary representing the Holy Spirit. Gnostic Gospel of Philip states, "Some said, 'Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit.' They are in error. They do not know what they are saying. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman?" 

Some say, women priests in protestant Churches derive from the fact, that feminine is reformed out of Churches with Mary. However, Martin Luther said: "[She is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ...She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honor her enough. Still honor and praise must be given to her in such a way as to injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures." (Sermon, Christmas, 1531).

"Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was Christ alone who reposed on her knees...If he is ours, we ought to be in his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother." (Sermon, Christmas, 1529).

Protestants easily imagine that Catholics think Virgin Mary is divine because of herself, and equal to Christ. But the principal glory of Mary lies in her nothingness, in an exemplary Faith she expressed: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38 NKJV)

At a Wedding in Cana, Mary points at her Son, saying: “Whatever He says to you, do it.”  (John 2:5 NKJV)

And on the Cross Jesus says to her mother, “Woman, behold your son!” , and to John: “Behold your mother!” , thus making a statement that His mother is Our Mother, Mother of the Church. (John 19:26 NKJV)
There is, however, a group within the Catholic Church, that is promoting for the Fifth Marian Dogma: Mary Co-Redemptrix. 

I have already written on Virgin birth [Jesus Christ: Life and Mission]. I only repeat the words of late Finnish Lutheran Vicar, Voitto Viro, who wrote in the 60's: "It's not important how Jesus was born, but the fact that he was born in the first place." Abd-Ru-Shin writes,

"Every conception arising out of pure love and a heartfelt looking upwards to the Creator, in which the sensual instinct is only an adjunct and not the basis, is an immaculate conception in the physical sense. In reality this occurs so seldom that there was every justification for laying special stress upon it."

St. Ambrose said: "Let Mary's soul be in us to glorify the Lord; let her spirit be in us that we may rejoice in God our Saviour."  

And Angelus Silesius, a Mystic and Poet:  "The Virgin I must be and bring God forth from me

Should ever I be granted divine felicity. "   

"'Virgin mind' is the innocent and open mind, untrammeled by knowledge and words, and, as it were, without 'conception' (profane conception), and therefore ready to be filled by the Sacred seed."

As Dictionary tells us, "conception" is

1. the act of conceiving;  the state of being conceived.

2. fertilization; inception of pregnancy.

3.a notion; idea; concept.

Indeed, I think "virginity" in this sense, is related to being like a child, that Jesus says is a requirement for entering the Kingdom of Heaven, which I see as realm of creativity and imagination. Both "virgin" and a "child" were also seen in early Christian writings as androgyne beings, symbols of wholeness. 

I am in contact with the Liberal Catholic Church in Finland, and they see Mary as motherly face of God and she is called the World Mother. According to C.W.Leadbeater, "There are three distinct ideas involved in the ordinary thought of Her:

1. The story of the mother of the disciple Jesus; what She was and what She afterwards became.

2. The sea of virgin matter, the Great Deep, the water over the face of which the Spirit of God moved.

3. The feminine Aspect of the Deity." 

(World Mother as Symbol and Fact) 

To me it is obvious, that the Highest Godhead is above all we can say, and it is neither masculine nor feminine. As St. Maximus the Confessor wrote, even as we worship the God beyond everything as Trinity and Unity, he is not three nor one as we know these numbers. Personally I don't like image of God as Michelangelo portrayed him, as an old bearded man on the cloud. Yet many Christians have made God unto their own image. My God is not white, heterosexual man. However, all opposites in manifested world merge into one Godhead in perfect harmony, and symbolically it's possible to say that God is the Mother as much as the Father. Many mystics have said the same, Juliana of Norwich being one of them. There are even modern versions of the Lord's Prayer taking this into account. 

Lords Prayer, from Aramaic into Old English:

Translation by G.J.R. Ouseley from The Gospel of the Holy Twelve

 

Our Father-Mother Who art above and within: 

Hallowed be Thy Name in twofold Trinity. 

In Wisdom, Love and Equity Thy Kingdom come to all. 

Thy will be done, As in Heaven so in Earth. 

Give us day by day to partake of Thy holy Bread, and the fruit of the living Vine. 

As Thou dost forgive us our trespasses, so may we forgive others who trespass against us. 

Shew upon us Thy goodness, that to others we may shew the same. 

In the hour of temptation, deliver us from evil. 

Amun.

Some Bible verses on God as the Mother:
"When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take care of me." (Ps.27:10)
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you." (Isaiah 49:15)
"As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you." (Isaiah 66:13)
"The LORD shall go forth like a mighty man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies. I have held My peace a long time,  I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once." (Isaiah 42:13-14)
Jesus said also: "How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings." (Mt.23:37) Some female mystics have called Jesus their mother, and even experienced him nursing them from his side wound.

Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you:
You are gentle with us as a mother with her children;
Often you weep over our sins and our pride:
tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgment.
You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds:
in sickness you nurse us,
and with pure milk you feed us.
Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life:
by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy.
Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness:
through your gentleness we find comfort in fear.
Your warmth gives life to the dead:
your touch makes sinners righteous.
Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us:
in your love and tenderness remake us.
In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness:
for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us.

Anselm of Canterbury


On Assumption of Mary, C.G.Jung saw this papal declaration addressing “the profoundest problem afflicting the human psyche: an imbalance which favored masculine principles and archetypes over the feminine ones."

"In the declaration that Mary had been physically assumed into heaven, Jung saw the Church as accepting at long last the physical world. But more importantly, in that declaration which affirms that a woman has been bodily assumed into heaven and has taken her seat on the throne of glory, Jung saw the Church as harvesting and celebrating the feminine and gentle element built into creation", writes Fr. Alexis Luzi, OFM.

 I find Apparitions of Mary around the world fascinating. They all are not officially approved by Rome, but the people have affiliated with them anyway. And they are not restricted to Roman Catholic world either. One occured in Coptic Church, Zeitoun, Egypt, in 1968-70. Famous locations are Fatima and Lourdes. Personally I like especially Maria Rosa Mystica in her simple beaty. Nowadays the most famous apparition site must be in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. I enjoy how Jayden Cameron in his Gay Mystic Blog writes about Medjugorje.

There is no doubt in my mind, that position of Mary in Catholicism is continuity of Pre-Christian Goddess-worship, like that of Isis, popular in Roman Empire in the beginning of Common Era. For many Christians this could prove against it, but I see it the other way round, just like so many other things in Christianity stem from Pre-Christian Mystery Cults, and they reflect certain universal spiritual truths. 
They say, the return of the Divine Feminine in contemporary world is wittnessed by many things like expansion of the rights of women, popularity of alternative medicine, recognition of animal rights, development of gay rights, to name a few.
I find the ritual an important way to approach the Divine, and so I have collected for my own use a ritual, that I call "The Sophian Service"; you might call it Christo-pagan.

Hail Mary Sophia,
Daughter of Light,
Who Speaks:
I am the Handmaid of the Lord,
I am the Queen of Peace,
I am the Virgin Soul
I am the Womb of Divine Love,
I am the Voice of Silence,
I am the Vessel for the Wisdom of God,
I am the Bearer of the Memory of God’s Son.
Sophia Blesses us with
The Light of Wisdom,
The Life of Fulfillment,
The Love of Creation.
We unite Ourselves with Sophia,
We seek Communion in her Name,
We offer our Hearts in Devotion to Sophia.

Amen.

JESUS CHRIST: LIFE AND MISSION

This topic sounds far too vast for one article - books are written about it, loads and loads of books, during the centuries, and I don't think I'm more expert than Scholars. However, there are truths I have learnt that have clarified these issues to me. I can't offer them as must-believe dogma, but perhaps they may bring new light and insight for someone else as well? I hope so. 

In Mt.5:17 Jesus says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." He is the Fulfillment of the Old. Matthew 1 lists 42 generations that were needed to give birth to Jesus, and that's why all the hustle and bustle concerning the purity of blood. John the Baptist was preparing the way for the Lord. He said: "He must become greater; I must become less." (John 3:30) And Jesus said: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Mt.11:11) In other words, John the Baptist was at the Threshold: he was the highest representative of the Old Testament religion, gone as far as it was possible on the way of the old covenant, and he was proclaiming the beginning of the new era, as reflected by the first sign of Christ, turning water into wine. Fig tree is often mentioned in the Gospels. Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree (John 1:43-50). He cursed the fig tree and it withered. This strange scene must be seen in the light of the parable of the barren fig tree. Other Gospels turn parable to real event. Now it is interesting to know that Bodhi tree under which Gautama Buddha achieved enlightenment, was in fact, Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa)! Knowing this, biblical references make much more sense: it is the old path of initiation Nathanael had undergone, and which now had become fruitless.

Jesus was not only the fulfillment of the Jewish religion, but all old religions. St. Augustine even wrote: "What is now called the Christian religion already existed among the ancients, and was not lacking at the very beginnings of the human race. When Christ appeared in the flesh, the true religion already in existence received the name of Christian."

Especially this is shown when the Magi from the East, Zoroastrian priests and astrologers, come to visit baby Jesus and bring him the best gifts of the old cultures, gold, frankincense, and myrrh - gifts, that Christianity adopted for its own cult. It is also undeniable fact, that Christianity - as well as Judaism - owes much to Zoroastrianism.

Now, the virgin birth? Concept is universal and there are virgin goddesses in many religions. Canonical Gospels don't emphasize it. Instead, the most crucial for this myth was the apocryphal Gospel of James. Salome proves the nature of mother after the child birth! This text was written by unknown Christian c. 200 AD, and it is full of imaginary details. An avarage Christian has never heard of it, but it was authoritative for the Church Fathers, and it has had an unconscious influence on Christian thought. Isaiah 7:14 prophesies without a doubt  in original Heprew, that "young woman" (alma) will be with child, and this was translated in Greek Septuagint "parthenos", virgin, which Matthew uses. Nevertheless, virgin birth is not essential part of Matthew's theology. Neither does Luke make it a central issue. This doctrine didn't fit in theological models of Paul and Mark, and also John's high Christology is independant of it. Luke 2:48 calls Mary and Joseph Jesus's parents and Joseph his father. John 1:45 and 6:42 call Jesus the son of Joseph. In Romans 1:3 Paul says he was a descendant of David as to his human nature. In both family trees of Matthew and Luke, it is Joseph who is descendant of David.

Besides, there were Jewish Christians who believed in virgin birth, but denied the divinity of Jesus. Quran also acknowledges the virgin birth, even though it strictly denies the divinity of Jesus. When the Apostes' Creed states that "He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary", it rather emphasizes Christ's origin as both divine and human being at the same time, than Mary's possible sexual integrity. Late Finnish Lutheran vicar, Voitto Viro, whose books I very much like, wrote in the 1960's: "Isn't it indifferent how Jesus was born, beside the point he was born!" And Malcolm Guite writes that it is possible to accept the truth of the mystery, without literally believing in a miracle. Anyway, the power of the most high did overshadow Mary and Joseph, so that a conception of Jesus was Sacrament.
Many people who believe in reincarnation, teach that Jesus was also reincarnated. However, Finnish theosophist and mystic, Pekka Ervast, whom I greatly honor (see the links on the sidebar), by the end of his life became convinced that this was not the case, but soul of Jesus had been kept pure and innocent in heaven - he took part of earthly life through his brothers, like prophet Zoroaster and Buddha.

Acts 10:38 and Mark 1:9-11 declare that Jesus became a Son of God in his baptism. Luke 3:22, a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Yet the latter part of the sentence is just harmonized with Mark and Matthew who say that; Many reliable manuscripts say "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You", leaning on Psalm 2:7. and it is repeated in Acts 13:33 and Hebrews 1:5 and 5:5. We celebrate the festival of the birth of Jesus, yet we have missed another birth that took place in river Jordan, a divine birth. Early Christians payed more attention to this spiritual birth than bodily one. The Son of Man was joined with the Son of God. During the three years Christ became more and more like human, Christ Jesus, the Son of Man, and Jesus became more and more like God, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When Christ came down to earth, he died in spirit; Incarnation was already a form of self-sacrifice. Long before he was nailed on the cross, he was crucified in spirit and soul.
After his baptism, Jesus spent fourty days and fourty nights in the desert, fasting in solitude, because Christ had to adapt to his new bodily condition, and immadiately he confronted the temptations of earthly man. His mission on earth was in the beginning a triumphant glory, but by the end it was growing harder and harder, while the burden of his earthly body became heavier, culminating in Gethsemane, where Jesus was in anguish sweating like drops of blood. Angels had attended him (for example, Matthew 4:11), but now he himself needed help from an angel (Luke 22:43).
He had to fight against the might of death that threatened to take his body ahead of time. Also he was worried if humanity could follow him through the deed of Golgotha. It had to take place! It was Jesus, who chose Judas among the disciples and knew all the time what would come. Greek New Testament often uses a word "dei", "must", "it is necessary": "the Son of Man must suffer many things" (Mark 8:31). "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father" (John 10:17-18). As St. Augustine said, if Christ had not died, death had not been conquered. When Pilate tried to release Jesus, adversaries were working through him, in order to prevent the inevitable. Words on the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?", are in fact, a triumphant exclamation. George M. Lamsa, native Aramaic speaker, translated: "My God, my God, for this I was spared!"

 Max Heindel in his major work, The Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception (chapter XV), writes as follows:

When the Savior Christ Jesus was crucified His body was pierced in five places; in the five centers where the currents of the vital body flow; and the pressure of the crown of thorns caused a flow from the sixth also. (This is a hint to those who already know these currents. A full elucidation of this matter cannot be publicly given out at this time.)

 Few lines ahead he continues to explain, how the "tremendous wave of spiritual sunlight flooded the earth":

Like all rapid and high vibrations of light, this great wave blinded the people by its dazzling brilliance, therefore it was said that "the Sun was darkened." The very opposite was what actually occurred. The Sun was not darkened, but shone out in glorious splendor.

The Shroud of Turin is a proof of Resurrection. Latest research supports its authensity. Modern sciense is still unable to explain the image that corresponds to sufferings of Jesus as detailed in the Gospels. I think the natural process of combustion took place in supernatural speed, causing image on fabric. The Resurrection Body is not matter, it is a spiritual body. In the Gospels we see the process proceeding. Right after resurrection Jesus says to Mary Magdalene: "Do not hold on to me". But later he tells Thomas to reach out his hand and put it on his side. Jesus was able to come through the locked doors, and yet he could condense his body tangible. And he was changed: Neither Mary Magdalene nor other disciples recognized him immadiately. In the Book of Revelation he is grown to cosmic dimensions.
The Independant Church of Australia teaches that "through the event of Golgotha, the blood of Christ, the Sun God, entered into this world. This has been working, like a seed in the earth, for the last 2000 years."
And: "The resurrection gave to us the power to transform and redeem our physical bodies, so they become bodies of light once more. It was the great evolutionary turning point making it possible for us to change, from becoming further enmeshed in matter and materialism to realising our spiritual identity - first in mind, later in all parts of our being."
One way to approach what happened between Crucifixion and Resurrection, is depicted in the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ (172:15-24). One does not need to take it literally, but with poetic freedom:

"Now, Jesus did not sleep within the tomb. The body is the manifest of soul; but soul is soul without its manifest. And in the realm of souls, unmanifest, the Lord went forth and taught. He opened up the prison doors and set the prisoners free; He broke the chains of captive souls, and led the captives to the light; He sat in council with the patriarchs and prophets of the olden times; The masters of all times and climes he met, and in the great assemblies he stood forth and told the story of his life on earth, and of his death in sacrifice for man, And of his promises to clothe himself again in garb of flesh and walk with his disciples, just to prove the possibilities of man; To give to them the key of life, of death, and of the resurrection of the dead. In council all the masters sat and talked about the revelations of the coming age, When she, the Holy Breath, shall fill the earth and air with holy breath, and open up the way of man to perfectness and endless life."

Jewish idea of afterlife, Sheol, was equivalent to that of the Greeks, namely Hades. Ecclesiastes 9:10 describes the place: "for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom." And 9:2: "All share a common destiny—the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the clean and the unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not." Nowadays those who have had near-death experiences, often tell about meeting with the Being of Light radiating love! 
There was no need to reconcile the "wrath of God";  Atonement is based upon the love of God: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (1 John 4:10). God revealed Himself in Jesus, and by following Jesus, man can understand the hidden God. That's how both Luther and John of the Cross thought.

What about Ascension? Christ had to withdraw in order not to make his disciples dependant on him. He used to stand before them, without, and now they had to find him and join him within, through the freedom of their hearts. Clouds are hovering between sky and earth, they belong to both realms. Christ's resurrection body attained its full capacity, it widened both to sky (or heaven) and earth, becoming omnipresent. "He is the Lord of the heavenly forces upon earth" utters the Creed of the Christian Community. By dying and rising again, Christ Jesus interweaved his divinity and humanity, uniting heavens and earth. A new sphere was created in Ascension: Heaven is spreading on earth through the sacraments. The merits of Christ's sacrificial deed are not yours automatically, you have to be open for it: Mass is a mystical instrument through which it works in the world.
Then what is the meaning of the Pentecost? Universal love born on earth at Golgotha, sets apostles on fire and warms them. The deed of Christ comes to life in their souls. They were able to see every heart and soul and say what each person needed to hear. God was no more found without, high in heavens, God had moved within every man. "Christ in you, the hope of glory", as St. Paul writes in his epistle to Colossians. Christ in us is the Holy Spirit.
There's one thing left to discuss, and that is the second coming, so much propagated by the Evangelicals. Greek word parousia used in this context, means more preicisely the presence that is revealed. Christ is coming in the "clouds" when individual men receive him in spirit, and their inner eyes are opened to see the etheric Christ. It is not coming from one place to another, it is a change in man. Christ wants to start a new step of progress in humankind. He's in a new relationship with humankind and religious life.

Signs of the end of the Age in Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21: "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." Destruction of the temple is historical symbol of human development, everything that used to represent "temple" in the world will be demolished. "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken." People direct their perceptions to material externality. "False Christs and false prophets will appear"... There are forces that are not from Christ. "Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he'". Awakening of Ego, individual "I am" becoming aware of itself, leads to division - "you hear of wars and revolutions".
"The Son of Man" is the goal of humanity, for if Jesus was a man, we are certainly not, and when he's "coming in clouds", that is the state of possibilities; "the sign of the Son of Man in the sky" is something still anticipating - all requests for human dignity today. The Son of Man will be like the "lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other". This is enlightenment.


I realize I have only scratched the surface with my writing, but one has to start with something, and draw the line somewhere. And this topic is larger than life, just like Jesus Christ himself! If you read this, may the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

See also: Ways of Christ, excellent source of information and reflections, in many languages!