Shekinha: The Divine Feminine

Image credit @gnostic_alchemy

The original Christians were taught that the divine had both a masculine and a feminine face. The Divine Feminine was known as Sophia, the wise Goddess. Apostle Paul teaches, ‘Among the initiates we speak of Sophia, for it is the secret of Sophia that is taught in our Mysteries.’ When initiates of the Inner Mysteries of Christianity partook in the Holy Communion, it was Sophia’s passion and suffering remembered.

The prayer would be offered: May Sophia fill your inner being and increase in you her Gnosis. It was Sophia who was petitioned, ‘Come, hidden Mother, come, you who are made manifest in your words, and give joy and rest to those who are bound to you. Come and partake in this Eucharist which we perform in your name, and in the love feast for which we have assembled at your invitation.

Paul refers to Christ as the “power of God and the Wisdom (Sophia) of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24), and states that Christ “became for us Wisdom (Sophia) from God” (1 Corinthians 1:30). The book of Proverbs describes Wisdom as the “way,” the “life,” and the “path” (4:11,22,26). The Gospel of John records Jesus’ saying, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

Sophia is one of the most powerful biblical Divine Feminine images. “Mother” may be an ambivalent image for some people, depending on their experiences with their own mothers or with the image of Mary. Wisdom, Sophia, helps us experience our own wisdom more powerfully. Sophia invites us to develop a partnership relationship with Her.

The eradication of this Christian Goddess by the patriarchal Roman Catholic Church has left us all motherless children. Women have been denied a sympathetic rapport with the Divine Feminine. Men have been denied a love-affair with the female face of God1.

Even though Wisdom (Hokmah, Sophia) is a prominent name for God in the Bible, She is ignored and excluded in most congregations. Just as women have been excluded from leadership and still are in numerous congregations, Divine Wisdom may be excluded from worship because the Bible presents Divine Wisdom as female and refers to Divine Wisdom as “She.” Also, people don’t always want to know about Her paths of peace and justice “All Her paths are peace. She is a tree of life” (Proverbs 3:17-18). Sophia is one of the many biblical female images of God. Including these female images along with other biblical divine images to create gender-balanced worship will expand our spiritual experience and contribute to equality and justice in human relationships.

King Solomon, King of the Tribe of Judah, was the son of King David, King of the United Kingdom of Israel. In the Wisdom of Solomon we read:

"I called upon God, and Sophia, the Spirit of Wisdom, came unto me. "I loved Her, and sought Her out from my youth, I desired to make Her my spouse. I was a lover of Her beauty. "She is conversant with God, She magnifieth His Nobility. Yea, the Lord of all things Himself loves Her. "I preferred Her before Scepters and Thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison to Her. "Neither compared I unto Her any precious stone, because all gold in respect of Her is as a little sand, and silver shall be counted as clay before Her. "I loved Her above health and beauty, and chose to have Her above Light: for the Light that cometh from Her never fails. "Wisdom reacheth from one end of creation to another mightily: and sweetly doth She order all things. "For Wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me: for in Her is an understanding spirit, holy, one only, manifold, subtle, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good, penetrating Intelligence which cannot be confounded, and always ready to do good. "Sophia is more moving than any motion: She passeth and goeth through all things by reason of Her Purity. "Sophia is privy to the mysteries of the knowledge of God and a lover of His works. "She is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars: being compared with the Light, She is found before it. "She is the Breath of the Power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the Glory of the Almighty: therefore can no defiled thing fall into Her. "She is the Brightness of the Everlasting Light, the unspoiled mirror of the Power of God, and the image of His Goodness. "Being but One, She can do all things: and remaining in Herself, She maketh all things new: and in all ages entering into holy souls, She maketh them friends of God and Prophets. "For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with Wisdom."