The Maternal Spirit

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(2) The Maternal Spirit

As one whom his mother comforts, so shall I comfort you.

— Isa 66:13

 

The origin of the world is its Mother;

recognize the Mother and you recognize the child,

embrace the child and you embrace the Mother.

— Lao Tsu, Tao Teh Ching 5

 

 

I am the Father and the Mother of this Universe.

— Bhagavad Gita 9.17

 

 

It is spoken by the Maker, Modeler, Mother-Father of Life, of

Humankind.

— Popul Vuh of the Quiché Maya, Prologue.

" Martin Luther, the originator of the Protestant movement, was not

ashamed to think of the Holy Spirit in feminine terms. We often miss

this in Luther studies because his feminine terminology is translated

into English masculine terms, but if his German is translated without

such a gender bias, his sense of the Holy Spirit being feminine

shines out like a beacon. "

The Rev. Peter C. Cage is Pastor of Grace Lutheran Church

 

 

 

In a remarkable saying in the Thomas Gospel, the Savior

asserts: `My mother bore me, yet my True Mother gave me the life.'1

(Th 101; cf. Th 15 46) This passage— the only recorded occasion in

which Christ seems to refer to God as his Mother2— is subsequently

elucidated by an equally surprising entry in the Philip Gospel: `Some

say that Mariam was impregnated by the Sacred Spirit. They are

confused, they know not what they say. Whenever was a female

impregnated by a female?' (Ph 18) For in this latter logion,

attention is being drawn to the fact that `spirit' is of feminine

gender in the Semitic languages (Hebrew, xwr [rúakh]: breath, wind,

spirit). This fundamental point, traditionally obscured in scriptural

translation and largely ignored by commentators, clearly has the most

far-reaching theological implications.

It is simply ungrammatical, whenever there are alternate

forms either available or readily constructed in a given language,

for a word to be used to refer to a being of the opposite gender—

thus for example Hebrew/English )ybn/prophet and h)ybn/prophetess.3

But furthermore, xwr itself is very occasionally used as of masculine

gender, as in Ex 10:13: hbr)h-t) )#n Myrqh xwrw, `the east wind

brought the locusts', where the verb )#n is in the qal perfect third-

person masculine singular. Thus xwr could elsewhere in the OT have

been employed in the masculine in referring to the Divine Spirit, if

that had been considered more appropriate.

Let us also note the salient parallel between Isa 66:13 LXX

and Jn 14:16:

 

& #61527; & #61526; & #61472; & #61541; & #61545; & #61472; & #61556; & #61545; & #61550; & #61537;

& #61549; & #61544; & #61556; & #61544; & #61554; & #61472; & #61552; & #61537; & #61554; & #61537;\

& #61547; & #61537; & #61548; & #61541; & #61555; & #61541; & #61545; & #61484; & #61472; & #61551;\

& #61557; & #61556; & #61559; & #61526; & #61472; & #61547; & #61537; & #61545; & #61472; & #61541;\

& #61543; & #61559; & #61472; & #61552; & #61537; & #61554; & #61537; & #61547; & #61537; & #61548;\

& #61541; & #61555; & #61559; & #61557; & #61549; & #61537; & #61526;.

Like if of-someone mother helpmates, thus also I helpmate you.

 

& #61515; & #61537; & #61543; & #61559; & #61472; & #61541; & #61554; & #61559; & #61556; & #61544;\

& #61555; & #61559; & #61472; & #61556; & #61551; & #61550; & #61472; & #61552; & #61537; & #61556;\

& #61541; & #61554; & #61537; & #61484; & #61472; & #61547; & #61537; & #61545; & #61472; & #61537;\

& #61548; & #61548; & #61551; & #61550; & #61472; & #61552; & #61537; & #61554; & #61537; & #61547;\

& #61548; & #61544; & #61556; & #61551; & #61550; & #61472; & #61540; & #61559; & #61555; & #61541;\

& #61545; & #61472; & #61557; & #61549; & #61545; & #61550;.

And-I shall-request of-the Father, and another Helpmate he-will-give

you..

This allusion strongly conveys a maternal concept of the Paraclete.

Now of course & #61520; & #61518; & #61509; & #61525; & #61517; & #61505; in Greek

is neuter and

& #61520; & #61505; & #61522; & #61505; & #61515; & #61516; & #61512; & #61524; & #61519; & #61523;

masculine, while SPIRITUS and ADVOCATUS in Latin are both masculine

in gender. Hence starting from the earliest versions of both the Old

and New Testaments in non-Semitic tongues, the very idea was lost

which Thomas is conveying and Philip emphasizing in the foregoing

quotations. Thus from having the neuter form

& #61524; & #61519; & #61600; & #61472; & #61520; & #61518; & #61509; & #61525; & #61517; & #61505;

instead of a

feminine form

& #61512; & #61600; & #61472; & #61520; & #61518; & #61509; & #61525; & #61517; & #61512; in

Greek, we pass to e.g. `el Espíritu'

instead of `la Espíritu' in Spanish, `der Geist' instead of `die

Geist' in German, and in English `he/him' in place of `she/her'

referring to the Helpmate (Hebrew, Mxn-m: participle, and thus

without gender) in Jn 16:7 ff.

We need hardly remind ourselves of the confusions, schisms

and even religious machismo to which this gender-shift has given rise

across the centuries, as theologians struggled to make sense of a

presumably all-male Trinity. Thus, as is well known, the

Orthodox/Catholic rupture of 1054 AD resulted from the

vexed `filioque' controversy, over the procession of the third member

of the Trinity.4 With the Sacred Spirit as a maternal figure,

however, the underlying idea is clarified: Father God and Mother

Spirit and Incarnate Son as the basic mystery of three-in-one, the

threefold Godhead. Here the concept is evidently that of a

transcendental holy family, in which the Divine Child— and indeed

each child5 (Mt 18:10, Jn 11:52)— is eternally born, not of the

physical union between human parents, but rather of the mystical

union between the paternal and maternal aspects of the Divinity:

 

Thus, as to the filioque controversy, it is precisely a third

possibility— and neither the Oriental nor the Occidental doctrine—

that resolves the issue: the Holy Spirit does not proceed from the

Father either with or without the Son, but rather the Son proceeds

(is born) from the Father joined with the Sacred Spirit. This

logically coherent form of the Trinitarian concept has for centuries

been effectively obscured by a simple grammatical shift.

One might therefore say that in the flesh Yeshua was once

born of the Virgin Mariam, whereas in the Spirit she is eternally

born of him. The incarnate Virgin can be understood as the

Incarnation of the maternal Sacred Spirit, just as Yeshua is the

Incarnation of God the Father (Jn 19:26-27!).

Herewith are the other passages in Thomas, Philip and

Valentine which directly concern this topic: `Yeshua sees little

children who are being suckled. He says to his Disciples: These

little children who are being suckled are like those who enter the

Sovereignty.' (Th 22) `In the days when we were Hebrews we were

orphans, having only our Mother. Yet when we became Messianics the

Father came to be with the Mother for us.' (Ph 6) `She alone is the

truth. She makes the multitude, and concerning us she teaches this

alone in a love thru many.' (Ph 12) `His (true) Mother and Sister and

Mate is (called) " Mariam " .' (Ph 36) `A Disciple one day made request

of the Lord for something worldly; he says to him: Request of thy

Mother and she will give to thee from what belongs to another.' (Ph

38) `Wisdom is barren without Sons— hence she is called the

Mother,... the Sacred Spirit, the True Mother who multiplies her

Sons.' (Ph 40) `The wisdom which humans call barren is the Mother of

the Angels.' (Ph 59) `Adam came into being from two virgins— from the

Spirit and from the virgin earth.' (Ph 90) `The Mother is the truth,

yet the conjoining is the recognition.' (Ph 116) `He supports them

all, he atones them and moreover he assumes the face-form of every

one, purifying them, bringing them back— within the Father, within

the Mother, Yeshua of infinite kindness. The Father uncovers his

bosom, which is the Sacred Spirit, revealing his secret. His secret

is his Son!' (Tr 17)

In numerous entries in the latter part of Philip, reference

is then made to the & #61518; & #61525; & #61517; & #61510; & #61527; & #61518; or

Bridal-Chamber wherein the Son is born

of the mystical union of the Father with the Spirit— thus for

example: `If it is appropriate to tell a mystery, the Father of the

totality mated with the Virgin who had come down— and a fire shone

for him on that day. He revealed the power of the Bridal-Chamber.

Thus his body came into being on that day. He came forth from the

Bridal-Chamber as one who has issued from the Bridegroom with the

Bride. This is how Yeshua established the totality in his heart. And

thru these, it is appropriate for each one of the Disciples to enter

into his repose.' (Ph 89) This primal mystery is then celebrated in

the sacrament of the Holy Bridal-Chamber. (Th 75, Ph 73 79)

It will be of value to list here the fourteen female

Disciples who appear in the scriptures: (1) the Virgin [Mt 1:18 13:55

28:1, Lk 2:48 {`thy father'??}, Ac 1:14]; (2) Mariam the sister of

Yeshua [Mc 6:3, Ph 36]; (3) Mariam of Magdala [Lk 8:2, Jn 20:1-18];

(4) Mariam the wife of Cleopas [Lk 24:18, Jn 19:25]; (5) Mariam the

mother of John Mark [Ac 12:12]; (6,7) Mariam & Martha of Bethany [Lk

10:38-42, Jn 11]; (8) the sister of the Virgin [Jn 19:25]; (9) Salome

[Mk 15:40 16:1, Th 61b]; (10) Susanna [Lk 8:2]; (11) Johanna wife of

Chuza [Lk 8:2 24:10]; (12) the wife of Zebedee [Mt 20:20-23 28:56];

(13) Tabitha [Ac 9:36-43]; and (14) Rhoda [Ac 12:13-17].

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Notes:

1 ta.maau..gar..nta.[s.mise mmo.i..eb]ol..

[ta.maau]..de..m.me..a.s.5 na.ei..m.p.wn6; see Bear in Th Notes.

2 But see the Gospel of the Hebrews: `The Savior says:... my

Mother the Sacred Spirit'(cited by Origen, Commentary on John,

ii.12.87), as well as the maternal image in the Mother Hen parable at

Mt 23:37, and also the quotes from Gilles Quispel and Raymond Brown

in `Recent Scholarly Comments'.

3 Nonetheless, the contrary grammatical gender can be used in

order to obtain a determined cognitive effect— thus an ordained

female may be called a `priest' rather than a `priestess', in order

to emphasize an equality of ecclesiastical rôle between the two

sexes. `The metaphorical meanings of sentences in which are used the

masculine or the feminine of ... terms, [are] completely distinct',

Pedro José Chamizo Domínguez, Metáfora y conocimiento, Universidad de

Málaga, 1998.

4 Filioque: combination of Latin words meaning `and of the Son',

added to the Nicene Creed of 325 AD by the Visigothic III Council of

Toledo in 589 AD: CREDO IN SPIRITUM SANCTUM QUI EX PATRE {FILIOQUE}

PROCEDIT: `I believe in the Sacred Spirit, who proceeds from the

Father {and the Son}'; the Orthodox Church did not accept the

inclusion, leading to the final rupture of 1054 AD between the

Eastern and Western Churches.

5I assume that

& #61517; & #61519; & #61518; & #61519; & #61511; & #61509; & #61518; & #61512; & #61523;

(`uniquely born') in Jn 1:14 refers to

the singularity of the Virgin Birth, and not to Christ's being the

only Son; see Jn 1:12-13 20:17.