they were green and bronze...LOL!
See, if ya'll'd learn to put some clothes on when its cold outside, you wouldn't have that problem...
Unless you're going for that Vishnu look?
feminine aspect of God ?
- Thread starter GlorytoGod
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Snugglepuff
Well-Known Member
Ah well, there is no feminine aspect really. Women tend to get a hard time in the Bible. Mainly I think, due to society as it was back then. Women were regarded as lower than men and still are in certain religions and countries.
It all started with Eve - being the bringer of the end of Eden and all. Mary Magdalene (sp) etc. The only Mary in the Bible that was given even a bit of good light was Jesus' mother - and that's because she was a virgin.
I think that's one aspect of the Bible that I don't like, is that women are very much regarded as inferior (well, at least from my perspective). It's probably what I liked so much about Wicca, which was that, the God and Goddess, men and women are regarded as equal. They are seen in all things.... like a delicate balance in life. That's what I liked.
Society has changed now in regards to women and the way they are treated, which is why I think the Bible is not really applicable today in literal terms. Like I've said before, I think today that the Bible can only be used as a guide more than anything.
On a different note however, God is described as being all things in one... sort of a multi-faced being. He is neither white, nor black, nor male, nor female (even though the noun He is used for His name). Some people have looked at God that way, which I thought was quite nice.
Netti-Netti
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Greets SP,
I wonder why the sinister, threatening, and coercive side of human nature is ascribed to females. For example: "may the curse of the Goddess be on any who disregard them."
Gardnerian Book of Shadows: The Old Laws
Seems a bit sexist. Could represent a attempt to use malevolence to raise the feminine so as to be on a par with male dominance. Anyway, it's not exactly casting women in the role of saviour.
Not to speculate too much, but I wonder if this "added power" advantage (the ability to effectuate curses) accounts for the fact that women are more attracted to Wiccan spirituality than men are.
seattlegal
Mercuræn Buddhist
I dunno, Netti-Netti. There are plenty of examples of curses in the Old Testament--more than plenty in the Psalms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anima_and_animus
Snugglepuff
Well-Known Member
Well, I would say that generally, women are considered to be more powerful in Wicca as they are life-givers. But that's Gardenerian Wicca, there's loads of other types... but I was never part of a specific type of Wicca.... I was just my own eclectic self, picking and choosing as I went along. I didnt feel the need to curse and generally, cursing is very much frowned upon; some people believe in the rule of three, I believe more in Karma.... I ahve had too much bad stuff happen to go down the road of cursing.
Wicca is different for different people so the above statement you made is localised to a certain set of beliefs... there are others out there who believe completely different things....thats what makes Wicca hard to pinpoint.
Dream
Well-Known Member
Hmm. Must....not....derail thread.......Resist tempation.
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juantoo3
....whys guy.... ʎʇıɹoɥʇnɐ uoıʇsǝnb
Are you referring to the Elizabethan English of the King James version of the Bible written around 1611? In which case, yes there is a paternalist orientation. On the other hand, if you are referring to the Hebrew original of the OT, I think you will find that several of the terms used of G-d are indeed in the feminine. I would not be at all surprized if some of the Greek terms were in the feminine as well.
So do the men.
Now we're getting somewhere. I am inclined to think that the emphasis towards men entered Christianity when it was blended with Mithraic Paganism around 300-325 AD, about the time that Constantine "legalized" it. That seems to be one of the hallmarks of the shift in view from Judaism to a modified Pagan view. Mithraism was a *male only* (no women allowed) religion, and was quite popular among the Roman armies.
nativeastral
fluffy future
coupled with the fact that most of the 'mystery' cults - isis, cybele, eleusian, baccanalia and delphic oracles - were managed/presided over by priestesses and to do with the goddess - they too got the 'chop'; despite the fact that the romans were quite into their goddesses - venus, minerva etc.
so yeh, maybe the sign of the times, organised societies maintained by soldiers and expansion of the empire engendered a warrior/male dominated spiritual protection in a constant war zone with less regard for reverence of the earth and more a looking upward to the heavens to je-zeus
so yeh, maybe the sign of the times, organised societies maintained by soldiers and expansion of the empire engendered a warrior/male dominated spiritual protection in a constant war zone with less regard for reverence of the earth and more a looking upward to the heavens to je-zeus
juantoo3
....whys guy.... ʎʇıɹoɥʇnɐ uoıʇsǝnb
Yep, that's pretty much how I see it.
Dream
Well-Known Member
Either we don't have a masculine God that dwells bodily at the center of the big bang or we do. Which is it? Of course if we do, the Egytian goddess Nut imagery might work really well with that. This would explain those otherwise contradictory descriptions of the goddess being both in the sky while at the same time being a giant womb giving birth to the world. In paintings she's got these sky-boobs, like such giant boobs. You've got to see the ancient paintings to understand. So in a unified big-bangous masculo-femini reconstruction, she would be like a great big feminine vacuum outside of everything and drawing the masculine power of the big bang out of its center towards her. (This would also explain why the expansion of the universe is accelerating) Life would happen in the place between. But only in a scenario in which God dwells bodily at the center of the big-bang.
juantoo3
....whys guy.... ʎʇıɹoɥʇnɐ uoıʇsǝnb
Certainly there are those that get caught up in the sexual union analogy or metaphor. I think like all analogies there are limits, and like all metaphors one must not confuse the imagery with the reality.
Dream
Well-Known Member
Think of it as the universe in a Nut shell.
You are right about the analogies though. I was just funin'.
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seattlegal
Mercuræn Buddhist
The Big Bang?
{snicker!}
seattlegal
Mercuræn Buddhist
Too late on your edit! I quoted you before you could fit your edit in.
I've always thought of Nut as being ever expanding space, (night) whereas Geb is matter/energy (light). The Big Bang is like "separating" the darkness (space) from the light (matter/energy), especially if you consider space as a "zero placeholder" for energy waves that cancel each other out. (balance)
Dream
Well-Known Member
Maybe the computer substitutes in the edited version sometimes, depending. I am starting to forget the original post, but I think that is a later version.seattlegal said:Too late on your edit! I quoted you before you could fit your edit in.
Agreed, it is a startling similarity, but I am really clueless in the comparative knowledge of religions. I have really only studied one. I never took Philosophy, but picked up a little there and here. I think I remembered maybe 2 or 3 Egyptian symbols: Nutt, Thoth, and Bast. Sometimes you talk about balance, Mu, Tao, etc. I have a difficult time with it. Its like 'Lostness' or something. Perhaps it represents acceptance. Have you seen it occur in so many cultures?seattlegal said:
Proverbs 1:6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings.
Proverbs 1:20 Wisdomcrieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets:
Psalm 136:5 To him that by wisdommade the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever.
seattlegal
Mercuræn Buddhist
Oops! You're right.
I have a difficult time with some things, as well. {Don't we all?} Some cultures I speculate that I might understand, but others I know I'm quite clueless about. *shrugs*
Yep, when it comes right down to it, we are all quite clueless.
Dream
Well-Known Member
Seattlegal said:
Which goes back to the first post. Perhaps woman is a concept that can help us understand God, and perhaps man is. Sometimes other things can, like the rolling sea on the shoreline. The sea is neither male nor female, yet God is characterized as a 'sea of forgetfulness' (Mic 7:19), if you will accept that way of looking at this verse. Perhaps even giving God human parts is helpful sometimes though maybe not at all times.
juantoo3
....whys guy.... ʎʇıɹoɥʇnɐ uoıʇsǝnb
That's pretty much what I meant when I said:
People think in symbols and symbolic terms, so they will reason using symbols that are meaningful to them. But it is easy to get caught up in the symbols and mistake them for the reality. If relating to the Divine in male, female or neuter terms helps a person comprehend, then I suppose that is well and good, but we shouldn't get caught up in demanding our beliefs are the reality. If G-d cannot be seen with human eyes, then no soul alive has seen "Him." If He cannot be seen, there is no way to tell if He is a He, a She, an It, or a Neuter. Since He is presumed to encompass qualities of all things, then philosophically I can consider Him to be "all of the above."
greymare
Well-Known Member
Limited Knowledge Alert:
Ok, you have been warned. (LOL)
the bible was written wtih reference to God as a male, and jesus speaking of God his father as a man. Perahps because at the time, if he spoke of God as a woman, he wouldnt have had much influence. Just a sign of the times.
and as far as God making us in his image, he made both males and females. We all exhibit the qualites of both genders, but we have a need to be complimented by opposite "type" of us. by this I mean, the person who is strong to us compared to our own weaknesses. I understand I am generalizing, but if you think about it, it seems to make sense to me.
I ONLY HAVE MY OWN LIFE EXPERIENCES TO GO BY. so dont take this as absolute fact, but, it seems to me, that the "femine aspect of God" is simply the comlpliment to the "father figure" of God. the Male part being the strong, protector, provider, etc and the Mother/female part being the nuturer, the comforter etc.
to take it off on an alternative tangent,
perhaps this is what we are all seeking in God or a life partner, the "other side" of each of us to make us complete. consider if, I am one side of a coin, my husband , life partner, should be the other side of the same coin, with God (or insert your spiritual guide) as the fundamental nickel(?) that is the core element of the entire coin.
Hope that makes sense.
(Its early and Ive only had one cup of coffee.)
Love the Grey
Ok, you have been warned. (LOL)
the bible was written wtih reference to God as a male, and jesus speaking of God his father as a man. Perahps because at the time, if he spoke of God as a woman, he wouldnt have had much influence. Just a sign of the times.
and as far as God making us in his image, he made both males and females. We all exhibit the qualites of both genders, but we have a need to be complimented by opposite "type" of us. by this I mean, the person who is strong to us compared to our own weaknesses. I understand I am generalizing, but if you think about it, it seems to make sense to me.
I ONLY HAVE MY OWN LIFE EXPERIENCES TO GO BY. so dont take this as absolute fact, but, it seems to me, that the "femine aspect of God" is simply the comlpliment to the "father figure" of God. the Male part being the strong, protector, provider, etc and the Mother/female part being the nuturer, the comforter etc.
to take it off on an alternative tangent,
perhaps this is what we are all seeking in God or a life partner, the "other side" of each of us to make us complete. consider if, I am one side of a coin, my husband , life partner, should be the other side of the same coin, with God (or insert your spiritual guide) as the fundamental nickel(?) that is the core element of the entire coin.
Hope that makes sense.
(Its early and Ive only had one cup of coffee.)
Love the Grey
S
soleil10
Guest
Greymare, we can call God our Heavenly Parent instead of Heavenly Father or Heavenly Mother.
The reason we have been calling Him Father is because masculinity is the subjective part of God.
When it comes to our spouse, I like to say that my spouse is my second messiah. Without a spouse we cannot complement ourself.
I do like the point you make about finding in God the other side of us