Lately, much is being written by scholars, historians and spiritual seekers about ways to elevate the idea of the Divine Feminine and move it from the realm of the strictly esoteric to mainstream theological exploration and study. The discovery in 1945 of a treasure-trove of Gnostic gospels in the town of Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt changed the landscape of biblical thought. These gospels, rejected and considered heretical by the early church, were not included in the New Testament Canon. They were instead buried in the desert by early believers to save them from destruction. A few of the most famous of these texts are the Gospels of Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Philip and Judas. Elaine Pagels, a leading contemporary biblical scholar and Professor Emeritus at Princeton, has written extensively about early Christianity and Gnosticim. She suggests that the Gospel of Thomas, and other such texts, portray Jesus, not as God, but as a human teacher who taught that the divine light resides in each of us.
But a look further back in history finds the idea of the Divine Feminine in the Hebrew Bible in Proverbs 8:22-31. This passage recounts the role of Sophia in the Creation story. Sophia, “the wisdom of the Creator” was there at the beginning, imbuing creation with the power of the feminine. The early Christian church replaced Sophia with the doctrine of the Trinity, turning Sophia into The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, a decidedly masculine triune Deity. ยท Today, many progressive Jewish and Christian communities incorporate Sophia into prayers, hymns, and liturgies to balance male-centric language. Because Sophia is tied to the creation, feminist theologians use her to advocate for environmental justice, viewing the earth as a sacred space animated by Divine Wisdom.
Much of the Divine Feminine centers around two principal biblical figures, Mother Mary and Mary Magdaline. Some progressive theologians argue that Mother Mary was not a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, rather, she gave birth to a number of children/siblings of Jesus, such as the apostle James who is frequently mentioned in the canonical gospels. More conservative Christians, however, hold tightly to the virgin birth theory and to the perpetual viginity of Mary, a position that strips away her sexuality and womanhood.
Mary Magdalene was made a prostitute and sinner when in fact she was a rich woman who funded much of Jesus’s ministry. Elaine Pagels explains that alternative early Christian texts, such as the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, portray Mary not as a repentant sinner but as a leading disciple who possessed a deeper spiritual understanding of Jesus than the male apostles. She was called the “Apostle to the Apostles” and was in fact the first witness of the Resurrection as recounted in all four canonical gospels. The Roman church later reversed their thinking on Mary Magdalene and in fact made her a saint.
I’ll close from a line written and sung by Paul McCartney in the Beatles song Let It Be. “When I find myself in times of trouble Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom let it be, let it be.” We are indeed living in times of trouble. Mother Mary’s words, the very ones she said long ago to an angel, can have the power to soothe, comfort, and quiet our minds, bodies and souls. And let that same Divine Feminine energy that co-created our very existance come and reside with us now. May it be so.