Our Western Civilization has been severely crippled since its inception by the fact that the Divine Feminine has been deliberately obscured and negated from the Biblical references to God at the beginning of Genesis. The direct result of this deletion of the feminine aspects of God, including the notion that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is male instead of female, as the name "Comforter" would indicate, is the cause of so much suffering for both sexes, but particularly for females spiritually. When I see Comforter I think of Mother, female, not male. I believe that if the truth were widely revealed women would feel much more empowered spiritually and emotionally. Men would have to step back, albeit very reluctantly, and concede that the male is not the “be all to end all” that they think that they are. Male superiority has been horrendous; it's time for the truth to come out.
I am using the title “God” to denote my idea of the highest power in the universe, the Creator of this universe. I will also be using the pronoun “He” and other male pronouns when I talk about Him. This is not to be off-putting to people who prefer to use “Mother-Father God” or feminine pronouns to describe their idea of the Highest Power. Please feel free to mentally substitute the title and pronouns that denote your idea of the Highest Power. The reason why I prefer to use male pronouns is because I lost my father to mental illness at a very young age and that left a gaping hole in me. My wonderful father got sick and had to leave; I didn’t have a father figure to grow up with. My Father God has revealed Himself to me over time as my true father figure; I came to this after outright rejecting Him as my father figure for many years in my hurt over how I’ve been treated by men. I was wounded; God the Father had to go! I’m so glad that God has been extremely patient with me and reintroduced Himself to me in a way that allowed me to accept Him fully as my Father. He accomplished that by becoming my Mother, El Shaddai, otherwise known as God Almighty in the Bible.
Literally, “El Shaddai” means “Strong One with Breasts”. “Shad” is Hebrew for breast; El means strong. El Shaddai is one of the many names for God in the Old Testament. In fact, it was El Shaddai, interpreted with a male slant by a man as the English God Almighty or Lord, who communicated with Abraham and told him to leave for the land of Canaan.
Genesis 12:1-3 (KJV)
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
El Shaddai was the female aspect of God that that not only told Abraham what to do and expect from her but she was also the one who dealt with Job in his trying experience that she instigated.
So, everywhere in the Bible where you see “God Almighty” instead insert “El Shaddai – Strong One with Breasts”. The feminine aspect of God was in play there.
In addition, the Spirit of God that moved upon the waters in the first chapter of Genesis at the creation of the world is named in Hebrew ruach; ruach is feminine.
Genesis 1:1-2 (KJV)
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The Spirit of God that moved upon the waters was feminine. That makes perfect sense; creation of life comes from the female, not the male. We make the babies, not them. Males provide the spark of life; females bind with that spark and create and nurture that life into fruition. Wisdom, or Sophia, is credited in Proverbs as being the foundation of the earth created by God.
Proverbs 3:19 (KJV)
19 The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.
Both males and females have been needed for reproduction throughout the history of the world until recently. Now that we have cloning the male spark of life, sperm, is no longer needed to make babies. Although there are bans on human cloning the technology will eventually be perfected, especially in light of the widespread cloning of animals being conducted. Technically, males have become obsolete.
All of this to say that God introduced me to His feminine side in the person of El Shaddai through a book about ancient goddesses I read. I literally cried when I learned of this new information. Male translators and interpreters had obscured the feminine aspect of God. I had become agnostic over the years; I questioned if there was really a God at all. When I learned of El Shaddai I latched onto Her and held her close to me. I read about how male dominance, the patriarchy we are all a part of, rejected the Goddess religions and belief in the Goddesses was eradicated by the monotheistic Abrahamic religion of Judaism. This rejection of the idea of God being a Goddess too has become so entrenched that the very concept is considered laughable. When I accepted El Shaddai as my Mother I was then able to process God being my Father. My Mother-Father God, who is both genders and yet neither, a true undefinable It, is the One who has been enlightening me and teaching me what I need to learn to share with others. I am extremely grateful for the spiritual growth and development I’ve experienced over the years.
With the anti-female bias of the Bible engrained in our minds, I want to bring your attention to the beginning of Genesis with the creation of Adam and Eve. According to the Bible versions we all use God, interpreted as singular, created humans and the dynamic between males and females. Western Civilization was built based upon the male-biased translations and interpretations of the Bible. The story of Adam and Eve has shaped the dominant policy of our civilization of female suppression and oppression. Woman has been demonized; from all appearances this has been God's will, so that will has been the law of the land. Is this really true?
Genesis 1:26-28 (KJV)
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
But notice that in verse 26 it says, “Let us make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness”. “Our” is definitely plural. In Hebrew “God” is “Elohim”; Eloh means Goddess in Hebrew. “Im” is the masculine plural attached to the end of Eloh. Elohim literally means “Goddesses” with the intent to convey that masculine power is inherent in the Goddesses.
If we push this farther, Elohim can mean androgynous Goddesses. These androgynous Goddesses created the Androgynous Adam in their image, after their likeness. They were a blend of male and female. I found the following online at http://www.transchristians.org/book/hijra-to-christ/adam:
“Among those supporters of Androgyne Adam are the oldest Hebrew scholars, the writers of the Talmud. When I first searched for Adam in the Talmud I was shocked not only that the writers believe Adam was an androgyne, but I was also shocked at how normal it was. The Talmud is famous for debating minor details and giving multiple, conflicting views on the same topic on purpose. But the Earthling’s gender was not debated. They believed the Earthling an androgyne and no reason to make a fuss over it or defend the idea. Their historical context must have been unanimous on the subject. There are two explanations for this: The Hebrews believed in Androgyne Adam since Genesis was written and the Talmudic writers followed; when Christianity blossomed, Gentiles did not bother studying Talmud and assumed if the Earthling died a man, he was born a man too. Or, the same as above except there was also a major shift of interpretation of the androgyne sometime between the origin of Genesis and the origin of the Talmud. Occam’s razor suggests the simpler, first explanation. It is rather silly to believe in something we have no evidence for, just because it fits our modern, unproven assumptions.”
The separation of the genders was accomplished by the Lord God (literally Elohim in Hebrew):
Genesis 2:21-23 (KJV)
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs (literally “side”, not rib; that was a translation error; tissue was taken from his side), and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Men have all of their ribs; they’re not missing one. If we think in modern terms instead of archaic ancient terms we realize that this is some high-tech stuff going on. The Elohim separated the female from the male; now there were two complimentary genders. Without Eve separate from him Adam was incomplete; no babies could be made. The question remains unanswered: who really were the Elohim? Were they other aspects of the God we recognize as the God of the Old Testament? Was the one God really multiple Gods? Some scholars think so. I have a great book on the subject called Gods, Genes, and Consciousness: Nonhuman intervention in human history by Paul Von Ward. He believes that there were multiple Gods involved in the creation and development of humankind over time. I believe in keeping an open mind. We just don’t have enough information to make a definite judgment on this. If you read the Bible literally it doesn’t take in account scientific discoveries and other cultures’ accounts of Creation. If you still think that the sky is a dome with lights in it and that the earth was created in six literal days you might as well heed my warning and stop reading now. This book will challenge your perceptions of a lot of things, if you are open-minded.
The Adam and Eve story may be closer to the Sumerian story talked about in the above-mentioned book, which is based upon high-tech means for creating humankind. Why wouldn’t God, even the revered God of the Old Testament, be as high-tech as can be imagined? If we can do the things that we can do now through science why would God be limited? God’s got all kind of goodies that we’ve never heard of or imagined with our limited human minds up his sleeve. For now, let’s just back up and work from the assumption that we’re dealing with the Adam and Eve story of Genesis as the basis of this discussion.
I believe, along with many others, that the patriarchy began with the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Most people know the story: Adam and Eve had one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that they were supposed to avoid at all costs. The serpent came to Eve and lured her into eating the fruit of that tree; she then shared the fruit with Adam and then they were cursed:
Genesis 3:1-24 (KJV)
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
I’ve pondered why the serpent sought out Eve instead of Adam to beguile into eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. Traditionally, it has been interpreted (by men) that Eve had the weaker mind of the two so she was easier to approach. I view it in another way, based upon what happened after the fruit was eaten. I say that the serpent came specifically to Eve because while Adam was dominant over the Earth Eve was dominant over Adam. Nope, this isn’t in the Bible; it is a theory. This theory is based upon what I’ve observed in real life.
A beautiful woman can bring a man to his knees; she can make him do almost anything she wants him to do, even murder. We’re all adults here; most of us have heard of the term “pussy-whipped”. I propose that Adam was pussy-whipped, and the serpent knew it. Eve was dominant over Adam; that’s why he came to her first. Although Adam and Eve were brand new, innocent and naïve, I’m pretty sure that they had figured out how to have sex together pretty quickly; it’s not hard to figure out, even at a young age. God told them to be fruitful and multiply. Adam would do anything for Eve; making love to her was a whole lot of fun!
After Eve ate the fruit she offered it to Adam and he ate it too; he wanted to do what she had done. Adam blamed Eve; Eve blamed the serpent, who had known what was dominant between the two. It doesn’t appear that God had a problem at first that Eve was dominant over Adam. After all, he made her that way, all good-looking, juicy, and enticing. In verse 16 God curses Eve with something heinous; no longer would she be dominant over Adam. God said, “Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” God flipped the switch; not only would Eve and womankind desire Adam and mankind to distraction, against her better judgment and discretion, as we have seen so often in our times, the way he had desired her, but he would flat-out rule over her. The patriarchy was born; there has been conflict between the sexes ever since.
In recent times women have largely rejected outright male domination in society, rebelling against the patriarchy in many ways. Yet I still see these same women caught up in the curse, desiring men so much that they are willing to destroy the fabric of their lives to keep the one that they have, no matter how unsuitable they may be for each other. Those without men are so desperate to have a man that they will do anything to get one. Men are in the very same position. Although they were set over women to rule over them they never lost their intense desire for them, that willingness to do anything, no matter how heinous, to keep them. We’ve all heard of those terrible stories of men who have said that if he can’t have her, no one will, and have killed the women in question because she wanted to leave them. The tragedy is that some men truly hate women, but can’t find it within themselves to live without them.
I’ll talk more about this rampant misogyny in another blog. In this writing I wanted to establish my take on the situation between the sexes and clear up some troubling misconceptions regarding the feminine and God. I repeat; God is both and neither. God is indescribable and unknowable; His ways are past finding out. Anything that can create something as wonderful as this universe is past magnificent!
