The Divine Feminine will sooner or later begin to take its proper place

[Guest guest]

" In this way we can envision the emergence of a new world culture as

the present materialist and mechanistic system breaks down under the

continued crisis of economic, social and political conflict. One of

the characteristics of this new culture would be its feminine

aspects. For three thousand years the world has been dominated by

patriarchal cultures which overcame the ancient matriarchal cultures

of the earlier ages. We have now reached the limit of this masculine

culture with its aggressive, competitive, rational, analytic

character. We are moving now into an age where the feminine principle

will be valued, the 'yin' in contrast to the 'yang'. In the Chinese

understanding 'yang' is the masculine principle, 'yin' is the

feminine and as the 'yang' reaches its limit it begins to move back

again to the 'yin'. We have now reached the limit of the 'yang', the

masculine culture, and we are moving inevitably back to the feminine.

The feminine will sooner or later begin to take its proper place with

its characteristics of intuition, empathy and co-operation, and with

its holistic approach. This will necessarily affect not only the

economic, social and political orders but also spirituality and

religion. The Christian religion has developed an entirely masculine

concept of God. We always speak of God as Father, and of the

incarnation of the Son. Even the Holy Spirit, which is neuter

in Greek but masculine in Latin, we have conceived normally in

masculine terms. In the Old Testament, however, the Spirit,

the 'ruach', is feminine and in the Syrian church this same word was

used of the Holy Spirit when they spoke of " our Mother, the Holy

Spirit " . That is found in the second and third centuries but it

does not seem to have survived after that. The masculine character of

the Godhead has always prevailed since then. (p.295) There was

however a feminine aspect in God in the Old Testament and to some

extent in the New, and in the Christian tradition we have

particularly Julian of Norwich, who speaks of Jesus as our Mother. St

Anselm of Canterbury does the same. So apart from a few exceptions

the masculine character of God has strongly prevailed in the West. By

contrast, in India God is conceived both as Father and Mother.

Obviously theologically God may be conceived as both Father and

Mother. Being neither masculine nor feminine he can be represented as

either Father or Mother, or both, in masculine and feminine terms. In

the Tantric tradition, which derives from the ancient matriarchal

culture, the mother aspect of God is dominant. In that tradition the

whole universe is seen to derive from the Mother and all worship is

offered to the Mother. That is precisely the opposite of the Judaeo-

Christian tradition. We may expect therefore a corresponding

development in Christian theology recognising the feminine aspect of

God and the place of women in the ministry of the church. There is of

course no question of a return to a matriarchal society. It is a

matter of the recovery of feminine values and the reconciliation of

the masculine and the feminine.

 

It should be added that in Catholicism the feminine aspect is entirely

centred on the Virgin Mary. It is the only way a Catholic, or indeed a

Christian, can find a feminine figure in relation to God. So devotion

to the feminine archetype centres on the Virgin Mary, but we should

recognise that there is a feminine aspect of God himself and that the

Virgin Mother is a manifestation of this. This means, in other words,

that devotion to the Mother has its origin in God.

 

It is possible that the transition from a mechanistic to an organic

society will come about gradually, without too much conflict. But it

is more likely that there will be a general catastrophe as the

economic, social and political structures of the present civilisation

break down. We must remember, and this is important, that the

conflicts of the present world do not derive merely from human

failings and miscalculations. There has been a reversal of human

values, a spiritual breakdown, which has brought into play forces

beyond the material and the human. The present crisis has been

prepared by the whole system of science and philosophy, affecting

religion and leading to atheism. This is a systematic development

where the previous spiritual values have been broken down and the

materialistic system discussed earlier has prevailed. This has

released forces beyond the material and the human. If a nuclear war

takes place it will not be because anyone desires it but because

people are being driven by forces of the unconscious which they

cannot control. As St Paul says, " We are not contending with flesh

and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers,

against the world rulers of this present darkness " . [1] When the truth

of the transcendent order of reality is rejected we do not remain

neutral. We become exposed to the hostile forces of the subtle world

of which we have been speaking, forces which work in the unconscious

and bring destruction upon humankind. Western Europe rejected the

perennial philosophy at the Renaissance and has been led step by step

to the materialistic philosophy which rejects fundamental human

values and exposes humankind to the contrary forces at work in

the universe. The only way of recovery is to rediscover the perennial

philosophy, the traditional wisdom, which is found in all ancient

religions and especially in the great religions of the world. But

those religions have in turn become fossilised and have each to be

renewed, not only in themselves but also in relation to one another,

so that a cosmic, universal religion can emerge, in which the

essential values of Christian religion will be preserved in living

relationship with the other religious traditions of the world. This

is a task for the coming centuries as the present world order breaks

down and a new world order emerges from the ashes of the old.

 

A New Vision of Reality (Western Science, Eastern Mysticism and

Christian Faith) Chapter 13, p.294-296

Bede Griffiths

Templegate Publishers - Springfield, Illinois

ISBN 0-87243-180-0

 

Notes:

 

[1] Ephesians 6:12

 

 

>

> www.adi-shakti.org/ — Divine Feminine (Hinduism)

> www.holyspirit-shekinah.org/ — Divine Feminine (Christianity)

> www.ruach-elohim.org/ — Divine Feminine (Judaism)

> www.ruh-allah.org/ — Divine Feminine (Islam)

> www.tao-mother.org/ — Divine Feminine (Taoism)

> www.prajnaaparamita.org/ — Divine Feminine (Buddhism)

> www.aykaa-mayee.org/ — Divine Feminine (Sikhism)

> www.great-spirit-mother.org/ — Divine Feminine (Native Traditions)

>

 

Interviewer: ShriMataji, You are called " Mother. " And, it seems in

the Hindu tradition there's a special context or meaning of the

word " Mother. " What is this meaning?

 

Shri Mataji: " You see, in the Indian philosophy, even in the

Christian philosophy it is so, but it has been little bit changed. If

you read the books of Essene, you will find they have described

the " Mother. " You see, the Holy Ghost is the Mother. When they say

about the Holy Ghost, She is the Mother. But how can you have… You

must reason it out. How can you have a father and a son without a

mother? [laughter] It's a, you see, simple thing like that. You see,

so it's the Mother only. Holy Ghost is very important. So, Holy Ghost

is the Mother, you see. It's absurd thing, I mean, to have such a

thing. Even homosexuals cannot have children. It's funny thing, isn't

it. Absolutely absurd! But Christians accepted this. I don't know

why. Why didn't they go into find out what is this Holy Ghost

business is? They said, " It's a mystery. " How can you say it's a

mystery? When you cannot explain then better not say anything about

it. So, Holy Ghost is something hanging in the air. No one knows;

it's a mystery, and the rest of it is the father and the son. It's

absurd!

 

Now, the principle of Mother is in every, every scripture - has to be

there. Now, the Mother's character is that She is the One who is the

Womb, She is the One who is the Mother Earth and She is the One who

nourishes you. She nourishes us, you know that. And, this feminine

thing in every human being resides as this Kundalini, as you have

seen. And, when She rises, She gives you this new awareness which

becomes compassion, which is flowing, which becomes soothing,

nourishing energy of love. "

 

Shri Mataji

Radio Interview 1983 Oct 01, Santa Cruz USA