The Divine Feminine

Usually when one envisions a personification of "God" within the Western paradigm of religious culture, one envisions a masculine figure.  Therefore many assume there is no "Divine Feminine" aspect within the Western Tradition, but this is not the case.  Although it is not bandied about within Western ecclesiastical circles...the Divine Feminine is definitely within the Western Judeo-Christian tradition and is alternatively paired with the Divine Masculine aspect or seen as the cause and birther of the Divine Masculine in manifestation.

Now within the Western tradition there is only the "One," and that One is neither masculine/feminine nor any other "physical" appellation/description we could imagine.  It is beyond the beyond, it is the Ain, the Ain Soph, the Ain Soph Aur (The Limitless Light of No Thing), and out of that effluence of "All" the "One" extrudes...or emanates...itself into physical form (the many become one and the one become many).  This is the beginning of the kabbalistic "tzim tzum" theory, and the "Tree of Life" in one way is a hierarchical map of the One’s energies as they are stepped down into physical matter.  As these energies are stepped down, it is often easier to describe them with masculine/feminine appellations and descriptions.

There are ten positions on the "Tree of Life";  the first three are named the Supernal Triangle and incorporate the extrusion of the "One" Kether (sometimes referred to as crown or will).  From Kether, instantaneously in some schools of thought and sequentially in others, two more positions (sephirah) are extruded…Binah and Chokmah.  Chokmah is often shown as male, the bearded gray-headed man of most Western art depicting "God," and he is referred to as wisdom.  The position is masculine/active in nature.  The other sephir that is created in this initial outbreath of the "One" is Binah, "Understanding".  Binah is the Divine Feminine, the "sea" from where all is birthed into form  and to which all will return…she is the collective potential of all that will and can be.  In the of Western Judeo-Christian philosophy she is often called the Shekinah, "the presence of God," and it is she that nurtures, guides and births the children of Israel (which means consciousness).

In the book of Genesis in the Bible we have it clearly stated not that God, Jehovah or YHWH created the heavens and the earth, but that the Elohim did.  Now Elohim is a feminine noun that means "Creator Goddesses."  This would be in alignment with the tzim tzum theory of emanation that form flows forth from Binah, the Divine Feminine...which when within the plane of manifestation, as we noted before, is called the Shekinah (presence of God).

When Miriam (the name derives from the word for sea), who is the Priestess to the Shekinah, dies in the desert while the children of Israel (consciousness) are wandering, they no longer have water, for the Shekinah has left (so the Bible says).  Moses is told (by YHWH which means "creation") to "ask" a rock (meaning faith) to bring forth water (meaning the flow of Spirit). Moses is too stuck in his masculine polarity, and instead of asking uses force and strikes the rock with his rod to bring forth water.  Because of this not honoring of the Divine Feminine he is not allowed to go into the promised land.  Think about it *grin*

This Trinity can be seen again within the Christian tradition, and yet has been re-named as Father, Son, Holy Ghost.  The Holy Ghost would equate to the Divine Feminine, and even earlier in our Western Tradition the "dove" was a symbol of the Divine Feminine and the harbinger of the covenant with Noah.  Thus Jesus is empowered by the Divine Feminine, the Holy Spirit.

So at base level the entire Judeo-Christian theology is based on the Divine Feminine (though you won’t get many to currently admit it in orthodox circles).  In fact Jehovah, YHWH, the being that most people think is "God" in Western tradition, isn’t mentioned till much later in Genesis, and it actually means "creation".  YHShWH or Joshua, the name of Jesus, has a "Shin" in the center, which is considered a "Mother letter" in Hebrew...the letter of the Divine Feminine that can manifest in matter through the principle of purifying fire. Like the dove descending into Jesus.  Jesus serves the Shekinah, as he states in the New Testament:  he is come not to change the law but to fulfill it; remember Moses didn’t fulfill it, he struck the rock.  Jesus also says he will baptize by fire.  Interesting, eh?

So if you wish to find the Divine Feminine within the Western Tradition, fulfill the Law and be Baptized by fire, it might be worth your while to do a little study on your own.  Within the Western Tradition the Divine Feminine is alive and well.  She may be hidden, but she will shine her face upon all those who seek "the Presence of God."

Interesting books for further research are:

When Women Were Priests, by Karen Jo Toriesen

The Woman With the Alabaster Jar, by Margaret Starbird

The Moon Under Her Feet, by Clysta Kinstler

Solomon & Sheba, by Barbara black Koltuv, Ph.D.

The Hebrew Goddess, by Raphael Patai