Lady Wisdom and the Church
Traditionally, it has been assumed that monotheistic religions have been opposed to divine female symbols. This has been because the ‘one God’ has been assumed to be distant, totally removed from the creation, ‘not-of-this-world’. And while it might be emphasised that God is neither male nor female, yet female symbols are almost never used for ‘him’. However, alongside this view of the distant Creator is that ‘his’ glory flows towards and dwells within the creation, and this glory is given female symbols, for ‘Lady Wisdom’ is “a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty” (Apocrypha, Wisdom 7:25, NRSV).
The ‘Church’, who has “the glory of God” (Revelation 21:11), is also given female symbols (‘the bride of Christ’, ‘the Mother of us all’). And yet she is also the ‘body of Christ’:
The ‘Church’, who has “the glory of God” (Revelation 21:11), is also given female symbols (‘the bride of Christ’, ‘the Mother of us all’). And yet she is also the ‘body of Christ’:
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And since the church is described as being both female and also Christ’s body, the above image shows Christ as being both male and female (which is mentioned in a text ascribed to an early Pope: see the video on the creation of male and female for more information). However, if someone’s spirituality and ethos is not aligned to such female symbolism, then using such female symbols will become hollow. For example, ‘Lady Wisdom’, describes herself as ministering in the worship services, and being a lamp, being the incense, and being eaten. As such, it is in the church’s worship services that the source of all valid female symbols should be sought:
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The following video examines the traditional outward forms of church worship to show how they were designed to point us towards the vision of the divine glory, ‘Lady Wisdom’. This does necessitate showing how various western doctrinal developments have led to changes in the worship service. For example, chanting has been interpreted as ‘vain repetitions’, and making the sign of the cross has been linked to ‘indulgences’, both of which have been linked to appeasing God’s anger. Finally, the church’s sacraments are shown to be linked to healing the creation, that is causing the divine glory to shine once again within it.
(33 minutes, 29 Aug 2018) Explanations Acknowledgements
The Virgin Mary
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However, overwhelmingly, the main divine female image in Christianity has been that of the Virgin Mary. And it is vitally significant that she has not been embraced by those in the ‘New Age Movement’ who desire a goddess figure. Following on from the video of the creation of male and female, I shall examine various aspects of the veneration of the Virgin Mary which I believe need clarification (or even repairing) in order for her to be accepted by those who simply want to relate to this divine female symbol without her having been filtered through an outwardly-celibate male clergy. (To be uploaded soon)
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Asherah
Academic Article: The Hebrew Goddess Asherah in the Greek Septuagint |
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Abstract: When reading the Hebrew Bible, it is clear that the goddess Asherah is given a very negative image. There are some fascinating probable misreadings, including one showing that she once might have had a more exalted role: in Deuteronomy 33:2 at the Lord’s right hand there was a ‘fiery law’, or was it ‘Asherah’? However, it appears that the Greek Septuagint preserves some additional references to Asherah which are surprisingly positive. In some of the places examined Asherah can confidently be assumed to be underneath the Greek word for ‘grove’ (the traditional rendering of ‘Asherah’). Additionally, there are places where Asherah does not occur but the Greek translation gives us evidence that the word Asherah was there originally. Finally, two ‘goddess passages’ (Ezekiel 8 and Jeremiah 44) are shown to have significantly different emphases regarding Asherah when read in the Greek or other ancient translations.
Keywords: Asherah, grove, Septuagint, ‘Image of Jealousy’, ‘Queen of Heaven’, Pisgah
Keywords: Asherah, grove, Septuagint, ‘Image of Jealousy’, ‘Queen of Heaven’, Pisgah
A pre-published form of the article can be read here:
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