“Whatever words we use to name, describe, or address God, they are only a means to an end.  That end is to speak of God.  And to speak of God is to speak of mystery.  We know that each of us is created and loved by God.  Much else we do not know.  We can only deduce, only imagine.  But in the imagining of God, we draw closer to her (or him) and learn to love her children as she has loved us.”
      —Baptist Pastor Peter King, Enysham, England 

“The hands of God hold us up, they hold us tight, they give us strength.  But at the same time they give us comfort, they console and caress us.  They are the hands of a father and a mother at the same time.”
     —Pope John Paul II, speaking to pilgrims in Rome, September, 1999.   

“Until women can visualize the sacred female they cannot be whole and society can not be whole.”
     —Elinor Gadon, author of The Once and Future Goddess 

     Many people in modern western culture are prepared to entertain the idea of a genderless God.  Far fewer are willing to consider that the Divine might wear a feminine face.  I’ve been in many conversations with people who will argue that I should not be offended by anyone referring to the Divine as “He” because God is beyond gender, and it does not matter.  When I suggest, however, that if it really doesn’t matter, we could just as easily refer to God as She, or (scarier yet) Goddess, people are often surprised by how strange and threatening the very idea seems to them. 

     The reasons for the strong and sometimes violent reaction to the Divine Feminine are ancient and deep.  For tens of thousands of years, human beings have been warring over how to define the ineffable.  Recent archeological finds (beginning in the 1980s) have demonstrated that most of Europe and Asia imagined the Divine as Female for nearly 20,000 years.  However, when those cultures fell to more patriarchal societies, God became Male. 

     People in power have always known that gender does matter.  The images we use for the Divine create our reality and determine how we view ourselves, each other and the earth.   The easiest way to control human behavior is to divide people, to convince them that certain groups or ways of being are superior to others.  Then demonstrate, usually by force, that questioning dogma is disgusting or even dangerous.  After some time, force is no longer needed.  The dogma becomes reality. 

     Beginning about 5,000 years before Christ, women began to be systematically and violently stripped of spiritual power as well as the right to be reflections of the Divine image.  By the time of institutional Christianity, God was certainly male.  And since woman was the downfall of Man (remember Adam & Eve?) it was only natural that women, who could not be trusted with free will, much less spiritual authority, must be subservient to men.   In case there were still any questions, the Inquisition and the witch trials were the answers. 

     Enter the 21st century.  It is no longer necessary to threaten western women with death for exhibiting spiritual power or questioning the masculinity of God; we tend accept what we have been taught for several thousand years.  I grew up with a male Trinity, and it served me well in many ways.  I never questioned it until my mid-20s, when my historical, cultural and theological studies all began leading me toward evidence of a feminine face of God, even within my own tradition.  At first, I felt terrified to continue my exploration.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit I knew were not punitive entities, yet the idea of a Goddess was so threatening I began to have dreams and visions of being drowned or burned at the stake.  At the very least I wondered if I was betraying God.  In spite of my fear, I found the images that had once brought comfort too limiting for me now.   I could not turn away from the Goddess.

      In August, 1997 I attended a retreat called “Finding your Path.”   The weekend confirmed my growing sense that my path involved re-introducing the Divine Feminine to western consciousness.  I struggled with the feeling that God the Father, who had guided me for so many years, was angry with my choices.  I felt compelled to go forward with my work, but I had some healing to do in relation to the Masculine.  I wrote to God, explaining how angry I was because of the harm that had been done to women and men, to the earth, and to the Goddess in His name.  I realized I had shut him out in my anger

Was he angry with me? Could he understand my need to seek the Divine in a face that looked like mine? Even as I was writing out my anger, fear and sadness I could feel the old, familiar voice in my heart—gentle, loving, insistent.  I began to write what I heard God saying to me:  If I am your Father, if I am your Brother, how could I not want you to know, worship, adore and love Her? She is my Mother, my Sister, my Lover, my Daughter.  She is Me.  I am who I am.  It matters not whether you call me Mother or Father, Goddess or God, Jesus, Buddha, Maiden, Crone, Isis, Cybele, Dionysus or Pan.  I am all of these and more...Your task here is not to find the One True Way to me, but to open human eyes to the Divine space in their hearts, and to make it easier for each one to find her or his own way to me.  Each way will look different! If you were able to see inside each soul in the Universe, every being who has ever lived, is living, will live, you would begin to understand who I am.  My glory can only be glimpsed through diversity.  So yes, call me Mother, call me Goddess.  Call me Father and call me Jesus.  Call upon me by whatever name brings you closest to me in this second.

     Ironically, my ability to resurrect the feminine in my own spiritual life, rather than leading me away from the church, helped me stay and appreciate the gifts it had to offer me.  I’m no longer limited to someone else’s definitions of who God is, so I can enjoy the rituals, music and connections to my ancestors.  I’m happy to pass a richer understanding of our heritage on to my daughters.  I do still call upon the Father, and upon Jesus.  More often I speak to the Otherworld through Mary, Brigid, Kwan Yin or the Holy Spirit.    At least for now.  Kimberly Schneider is a Licensed Professional Counselor who draws upon ancient and modern healing methods to assist clients in reconnecting with the Divine and with their authentic selves.    She has a Master's Degree in Counseling with an emphasis in women’s spirituality, as well as a degree in law.  www.findsforseekers.com 

New Testament

Come back to Me,
Daughter of Earth,
and reclaim your holiness!
I am your Mother:
The Feminine Principle;
The Great Goddess.
You may not remember me,
for you were torn from my breast long ago. 
I have been beaten, bruised and buried;
I have been raped, then scorned, then ignored.
You have worn my sorrow on your face.
You have carried my shame in your womb. 
And you have run in terror
from that emptiness in your soul
that lives where my spirit once held you.
You may have heard that I am dead. 
But I am alive! I am alive! I am alive!
And I have come to show you
how to redeem
yourself.

Come back to Me,
and I will show you the secrets:
of holy fire, of wind, water and earth.
I will make your heart soar
and your spirit sing
and your body dance. 
Move with me.  Feel my rhythm
beat within your breast.
Let the flow of my love carry you
down and in,
      down and in
              down and in….
There, in that dark secret place
you will find Me.
You will find all women
and you will find
your Self. 
Rise up daughter,
and cast off your shame.
Stand tall and free
in the strength of my Love.
Feel my Breath
resting sweetly on your lips.
Hear my Voice
rising sure and steady from your heart.
Experience my power
in the cycles of your blood.
I am alive.
And you
Are my Testament.
Come back.  

©Kimberly Schneider, 1998
www.findsforseekers.com