Why is the image of the Divine Mother so important?

Hi friends, sisters, seekers of the divine, the summer is on its way... I hope you all are enjoying some fun and relaxation and maybe a little reading? : ) 


In case you were wondering... Adele, Pam, Jan, Katie, Leslie, Heather, Elizabeth & me (& a couple maybes) are reading the book. I saw Adele yesterday and she already finished it! It really isn't too long of a book and is written I think in a very inviting way. 


 Given we have all been immersed in a patriarchal religious tradition, it may feel strange to venture into this topic... This book I think does a great job in showing us that it is ok for Christians to conceive of god in non-masculine imagery.  Wherever you are at in the book or on your journey, wondering what your heart is saying to you about this idea of God bring beyond gender yet beautifully imaged in both genders. How does it feel to you to imagine God in feminine terms and qualities? Not just intellectually but more in the deeper recesses of your heart/subconsciousness (the olace where you reach when you are at the end of your rope, in need of comfort and consolation) ie your lived and felt image of God? ...that knowing beyond knowing that makes you feel connected with Something beyond yourself? ... A knowingness that hovers within and over your very embodied life experience... the "scripture" revealed within your life as a female, woman, daughter, sister, mother, human... I hope some of you feel inspired to chime in. I am really looking forward to gathering at the end of the summer in person to debrief... 


 While I'm posting, I can't resist sending along a quote from another book which touched me... 


 "Why is the image of the Divine Mother so important? 


To answer this question, we need to look no further than our experience of birth into the world. First of all, there is the traumatic experience of the embryo in the womb; the experience of union or fusion and containment within a watery, nurturing matrix. Afte the traumatic experience of birth and the sudden violent expulsion from this matrix, the prolongation of the early feelings of close relationship, trust, and safety is absolutely vital. Without the consistent and loving care of the mother in early childhood [NO MOMMY GUILT ALLOWED!] the child has no trust in itself, no power to survive negative life experiences, no model from. Which to learn how to nurture and support itself... It is like a tree with no roots, easily torn up by a storm. It's instincts have been traumatized or damaged . with the love of the mother and trust in her presence, the child grows in strength and confidence and delights in itself and in life. Its primary response is trust. Without this experience, life becomes threatening, terrifying. Without it, the effort of living exhausts and dispirits. Intense and constant anxiety means that there is no resting place, no solace for loneliness, no feeling that life is something to be trusted and enjoyed. 


 Without this positive image of the feminine, fear, like a deadly parasite, invades the soul and weakens the body. Those cultures that have no image of the Mother in the godhead are vulnerable to immensely powerful unconscious feelings of fear and anxiety, particularly when the emphasis of their religious teaching is on sin and guilt. The compensation for this fear is an in saturable need for power and control over life. How hungry the human heart is for an image of a Divine Mother that would, like an umbilical cord, reconnect it to the Womb of Being, restoring the lost sense of trust and containment in a dimension that may be beyond the reach of our intellect, yet is accessible to us through our deeper instincts..." 
The Divine Feminine:  Exploring the Feminine Face of God Throughout the World by A Harvey & A Baring


meditate for a moment on the image of the umbilical cord... 


 Oops, that got a little long... How might allowing yourself to imagine/pray/know God in feminine terms deepen your intimacy/oneness/kinship with your Creator "beyond the reach of your intellect"? If you are so inclined, share some insights/musings/wonderings... 


 Why is the image of the Divine Mother so important? or not? or maybe...


grace & peace, 
Emily

Blessed be She

Dear God, Creator & Giver of Life:

Blessed be you Mother-Labourer of all, brooding and opening yourself to suffering,

As when the chaos-waters broke, and you birthed all creation from nothing.

I rise with you this day my Maker.  You knit me together in my mother’s womb, so I belong to You. 

Your protective love hovers over all you create.  As members of the human family,

we are your children and are needy of your nourishment.

Spirit of Life, calm and quiet our hearts like a weaned child at her mother’s breast. 

Give us childlike, open hearts to keep your lovingkindness before our eyes.

Increase our vision of you as we seek your maternal face which watches over us in delight.

Mother each of us as we mother our children and all those whose lives we touch. 

Amen.

So there are a few of us interested in reading a book this summer about the lost feminine images of God in our Christian tradition and also within the world's vast treasury of religious symbols.  There are so many good books. After getting feedback from some of you, I thought The Divine Feminine:  The Biblical Imagery of God as Female by Virginia Ramey Mollenkott would be a good choice as it is relatively short, not so academic but still very informative, and also it is focused on how to extract from within our own tradition a more gender-balanced view of God.  
                                                                                                        
As we read this book together, allow your spiritual imagination to contemplate God in feminine form...  think about how your image of God has been shaped by your religious tradition... No one symbol or name fully captures the mystery of who God is, yet each gives us a blueprint in our mind for how we relate to and conceive of this Invisible, Ineffable Being we call God.  Symbols operate on the level of our subconsciousness so bypass our more conscious rational minds.  Given that summer schedules are so random, I thought we could just meet at the end of the summer but use this blog as a way to share any insights, questions, prayers, ideas along the way.  I may also throw out some images on the blog to pictorially represent what we are reading.  


Email back with your address and I will order the books on amazon and have it sent to your house.  In the meantime, if you want to read a good article on this topic, this is really good:  http://orthodox-theology.com/media/PDF/IJOT2-2010/7-johnson-femalesymbols.pdf excerpt:    
                                                                                           
"The way a group names its God has critical consequences, for the symbol of the divine organizes every other aspect of a religious system. The way a faith community speaks about God indicates what it considers the greatest good, the profoundest truth, the most appealing beauty. In turn, the image of God shapes a community’s corporate identity and behavior as well as the individual behavior of its members. A religion like the Aztec way, for example, that depicts God like a warrior with his tongue like a sharp knife dripping blood, would promote human sacrifice and aggressive group behavior among its adherents. By contrast, a religion that preaches a God who lovingly forgives offenses would turn believers toward reconciliation and care for their neighbor, even enemies. The symbol of God functions. Beyond verbal or visual references, it focuses a whole complex of conscious and unconscious ideas, feelings, emotions, and associations, very deep and tenacious. It is never neutral in its effects, but expresses and molds a community’s bedrock convictions and actions.


Remember this is not an RCC group just an informal summer book club!  I thought we could meet at the end of Aug for wine and sushi on my deck!  I'll divide up the chapters so we can all be reading at sort of the same time and at a pace that allows for spiritual reflection and integration.


Emily