SOPHIA LINKS 1

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FOR ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS:
(links for the NON-orthodox *will* follow)

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*HOLY SPIRIT, DIVINE FEMININE*
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Agora/6776/

"This web site asks the question why over the centuries has the mainstream Christian church largely ignored the Divine Feminine?

"One can understand that Jesus inherited the gifts of the Divine Feminine, but why has much of the established church tried to hide Her truth?

"Because Divine Wisdom has touched my heart, and guided me to a series of biblical passages, this makes me ask the question why has Her existence been mysteriously obscured?

"Your comments on the bulletin board at the end will be most welcome."

"The Divine Feminine (identified as Divine Wisdom, or Sophia, or the Holy Spirit) was present during the Creation of the world by the Father.

"Here are supporting Biblical passages and comments---The Old Testament quotes are from the Septuagint (Greek and English- Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton-Regency Reference Library - this Greek Old Testament version was written circa 285 B.C.)------<...>

"Divine Wisdom and the Holy Spirit have been identified as being one and the same. Here is supporting documentation----" <...>

"SOPHIA, THE HOLY SPIRIT:"
http://laermita.org/index1.htm

"But the Holy Spirit is a person..."

"...Wisdom is feminine in Scripture. And would that not indicate that the Holy Spirit is feminine?

"We also notice that the Spirit has characteristics like 'giving birth,' 'nurturing,' 'creating,' and 'mothering of all God's creation.' These are feminine characteristics.

"We have always known that within the Godhead, the Trinity, there was a family, the Family of God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But a family is not possible without a father and mother. So, even though the Holy Spirit is not named Mother, She seems to have all the characteristics of Divine Motherhood as the Father has of Divine Fatherhood. It seems that despite our outward tradition, there are underlying reasons for accepting the Holy Spirit as feminine."

~~from "Who Is Sophia?"

"THE QUEEN'S MEMOIRS"
http://websyte.com/unity/lifestream/Queen.htm#RAPTURE

"As Queen of the Universe she is able to contact all minds with love and encouragement -- for there is but One Mind. She is able to inspire all hearts -- for there is only One Heart that beats with the rhythm of the universe. She seeks but one great soul in human form with the capacity to touch and agree unselfishly in the spirit of pure love, to bless the whole of humanity." -- Carolyn Odom Burleson

"'God-She' is not, some new construct added onto the present resource of Jewish God language, but distinct and separate from it. Instead, 'God-She' applies to all elements of Jewish God language. In other words, the familiar hakadosh baruch hu ('the Holy One, bless barucha he' can also be ('the holy One, blessed be She') AND THIS ALWAYS HAS BEEN!

"In English, the Holy Spirit is conventionally referred to as 'He', because the Latin word for 'Spirit' is spiritus (masc.). In Greek, 'Spirit' is pneuma (neut.), leading to references as 'It' (e.g., Romans 8:16, 'The Spirit itself...') In Hebrew/Aramaic, 'Spirit' is ruach (fem.), leading to references as 'She. In the Odes of Solomon, the oldest surviving Christian hymnal, the Holy Spirit is female."

"...we know from a fragment of the Gospel According to the Hebrews, the Holy Ghost is regarded as the wife of God the Father, for there Jesus uses the expression 'My Mother the Holy Ghost,' as quoted by Epiphanius (Haeres LXII, 2)."

"The Fourth Gospel was authored by an anonymous follower of Jesus referred to within the Gospel text as the Beloved Disciple. In the Fourth Gospel's community, the now 'anonymous' Beloved Disciple was known to be Mary Magdalene."

"The Jesus group did not accept the values and institutions of their Jewish society and milieu but often stood in opposition to them. Jesus and his disciples, for example, did not live an ascetic life-style like John the Baptist and his followers. The Jesus group rejected the religious purity laws and attracted the outcasts of their society as well as those who were for various reasons ostracized from their religious community. In distinction to the community at Qumran or the Pharisees, the Jesus movement in Palestine was not an exclusive but an inclusive group. Woman were prominent among the people who made up much of Jesus's circle."

"Paul explicitly identifies Jesus with Sophia in 1st Corinthians 1:23-25,30 'By God's action, Jesus Christ has become our Sophia.' Then following, in 2:6-8, 'But still we have a Sophia to offer those who have reached maturity: not a philosophy of our age, it is true... The hidden Sophia of God which we teach in our mysteries is the Sophia that God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began...'"

"If one examines the evidence there is no doubt that Saint Paul's Epistles have suffered by interpolations and in particular in passages regarding women, which must be considered the work of later, monastic, patriarchal, establishment, Greece-Roman scribes."

"Careful consideration of the teachings which concern women in the epistles show that the early Christian Church was in fact pro-feminist struggling within a culture that wasn't. The tensions became only more acute as Christianity became part of a Greco-Roman world, whose underlying gender template defined women."

"The work of enlightenment is partly to make conscious and whole the divided and conflicting parts of ourselves, to experience a gesalt or awakening, and wake to the eternal unity that underlies all things. To awaken to the unity of the self is the great goal, the Pearl of Great Price, the object of our deepest longings. It is this possibility that is manifest by the masculine/feminine nature of our eros and psyche."

"The Spirit is vital, quick, and alive, winged, subtle, and beautiful. <...> If we are to discover paradise we must look within. <...> If you listen, you can hear it now; the song your spirit has been singing from the moment of your birth. <...>"

[A *very* insightful (& mind-expanding!) discussion of Sophia -- well *within* the bounds of Christian orthodoxy. ~~wynn]

"The center of our story is the foetus[2] of space-time. Our lives are played out in the flow of space-time within the womb of Sophia. Sophia, God's Wisdom, is eternal - outside of time - the firstborn of creation. If Sophia is first born and space-time is created, then Sophia proceeds space-time and must be outside of it. Space-time, including ourselves, is a foetus in Sophia's womb, sired by the Logos, the Word, preexistent with God, as God. Conception occurred when God spoke the Word and caused the Big Bang[3]. The foetus in our present age is developing within Sophia, in the amniotic fluid of God's Wisdom, within the amniotic sac of light[4]. The crucifixion and resurrection are the onset of Sophia's labor. All of space-time labors now to be birthed. When space-time at last passes through Sophia's birth canal, in the Apocalypse, it will emerge itself into eternity as the Commonwealth of God."

"Sophia is God's Wisdom, the divine origin of knowing and understanding, the interface of discernment between God and creation ... <...> Wisdom is fertile; she integrates the tree of knowledge and the tree of life into a divine ordering of continuing creation 'In [the] image of the divine architect, wisdom is the skill, plan, and knowledge God uses to secure and order the cosmos (Perdue 1994, 83)'. Unlike the Yahwist writer of Genesis who sees knowledge as forbidden and its gain the truncation of life, Mother Wisdom sustains our life with knowledge, discernment, and insight."

"Sophia is the consort of God. 'She [Wisdom] enhances her noble birth by sharing God's life, for the Master of All has always loved her. (Wis. 8:3, NJB).'  Wisdom is the consort and lover of God. She is the Queen of Heaven who brings life, fertility, and blessing to those who love her and follow her instruction. She is the instrument of creativity mediated between God and creation. 'Through God's love of Wisdom, life in the cosmos originated and continues (Perdue 1994,330).' And the gnostics recognizing the Trinity, saw Wisdom as the consort of Jesus. The Sophia Jesu Christi says,

"That God has a consort in the creation is testified in the Hebrew scriptures."

"Space-time is not some machine propelled by mindless law and chance. It is a living, breathing entity being nurtured and loved. The laws are designed by the Logos out of love. The quantum mechanical chances are Sophia's and Logos' opportunities to care, guide, and teach space-time without violating the consistency of God's creation. The death of space-time, whether in a big crunch or by heat death is no death itself, but merely the expelled placenta. For the essence, the spirit and flesh will be transformed from space and time into the eternal Commonwealth. In the big crunch, the substance is reabsorbed into Sophia, and she may conceive again. In the heat death, the placenta is expelled and remains in eternity. But fundamentally, we can once again expand our vision to eternity. It is not limited to space-time..."

"To understand eternity, Neville (Neville 1993) explores the nature of eternity in the context of the flow of past, present, and future time. This aspect of eternity is the womb of Sophia. These tenses are together in eternity, whereas temporally they are separate. Within eternity, time as a whole in all of its tenses exists together simultaneously (although that temporal word has no context in eternity). The present is the moment of becoming, where change and spontaneous creating takes place. The past is fixed objectively in everlastingness. It is immutable. The future provides form to integrate potentiality of the past and present. All the modes are of equal necessity. But each mode conditions the others. The present is constrained to the actual possibilities opened by the past and the formal possibilities suggested by the future. The past is an integrated history whose context is defined by the actualizations of previous presents and the structure of the future. The future is given the plurality of possibilities opened by the past, but as the present becomes, the potentiality of the future is transmuted according to the possibility being actuated. From these interactions, time's flow emerges: the present actualizes future possibilities and puts into the past actuality. The past is added to, the future is changed, and the present becomes and perishes. Eternity, i.e., the womb of Sophia, then is the togetherness of the temporal modes. Time flows within eternity; eternity is the context within which time flows and within which the modes harmonize."

[There's *lots* more. A truly *significant* essay. But it *does* require a college-level mentality to understand it. -- Winsome]

[This is the first sonnet of a very *lengthy* poetic dialog between Christ & Sophia.]

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BEYOND ORTHODOXY:

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FEMALE ASPECTS OF DEITY: SEARCHING FOR LADY WISDOM by Asphodel P. Long
http://www.amaranthine.freeserve.co.uk/pages/feminist_theology/lady_wisdom.htm

Everything to do with her is mysterious and paradoxical. In the Bible she is always female... She is continually being sought and found, lost and found; she ascends and descends; she finds her place in Israel, she can find no place in Israel. She is the divine female companion of God, eternal with Him before creation, and is herself involved in the cosmos as creator, nurturer, teacher and artificer. She acts as intermediary between God and humans and is willing to share herself with them and with the world. She may be married to God or to selected men, and she may be the mother of the created world. Human beings must follow her rules if they are to succeed in this life and also possibly partake in an afterlife with God. It was she who helped God create the universe and she knows all its secrets. She moves through it and orders it well". (A. P. Long. in: Pirani. A. (ed.) The Absent Mother (1991:46)) <...>

Rose Arthur (1984) has examined the contrast between the early texts about Wisdom and the later ones. She comes to the conclusion that "the [later] Christianised erring Sophia...appears to be a.... devaluation of the creative female principle of the universal goddess of the Hellenistic world" (p 96). She also remarks:" in the documents in which Sophia is a personage within Jewish or Gnostic myth she is not a tragic figure in need of male redemption; rather the fallen Sophia appears to be a specifically Christian soteriological motif"(p4). <...>

There is a good deal of archaeological evidence emerging to suggest that Asherah was worshipped as the Consort or wife of Jahweh. <...>

It has been argued throughout this course, that Wisdom, Hochma, Sophia, is the Female Divine in the Jewish and Christian backgrounds, and that she is connected to Wisdom goddesses of the ancient world in Europe and Africa. We have assumed that the androcentrism and misogyny of biblical texts have exerted a major influence in producing and sustaining an unequal society that also through its desecration of Nature is leading to planetary disaster.

"Goddess Birthing Universes"
 Copyright © 2001 by Norman E. Masters
 All rights reserved to the artist.
        

Sophia said: "The great mystery has been revealed to all, and yet remains eternally unfathomed. The new world is born from suffering and the ashes are dissolved in tears to become the drink of eternal life. The heavenly Mother dwells in everyone, in order that each child be born eternally. Do you feel the sweet birth in the beating of your hearts?"

Finally Sophia said, "The Mother is among us. Her presence will gladden us for ever. Follow us into our dwelling: There, in the temple, we shall dwell eternally and guard the mystery of the world."

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Besides the Words of Sophia to be found in *Proverbs* and what is revealed about Sophia in *The Wisdom Of Solomon* (in the Septuagint) -- (and, in fact, *more important* than these two ancient Biblical tractates) -- are the two Ancient Works coming *totally* from Sophia, Herself:

"I descended to the midst of the underworld, and I shone down upon the darkness. It is I who poured forth the water. It is I who am hidden within radiant waters. I am the one who gradually put forth the All by my Thought. It is I who am laden with the Voice. It is through me that Gnosis comes forth. I dwell in the ineffable and unknowable ones. I am perception and knowledge, uttering a Voice by means of thought. I am the real Voice. I cry out in everyone, and they recognize it (the voice), since a seed indwells them. I am the Thought of the Father, and through me proceeded the Voice, that is, the knowledge of the everlasting things. I exist as Thought for the All -- being joined to the unknowable and incomprehensible Thought -- I revealed myself -- yes, I -- among all those who recognize me. For it is I who am joined with everyone by virtue of the hidden Thought and an exalted <Voice>, even a Voice from the invisible Thought. And it is immeasurable, since it dwells in the Immeasurable One. It is a mystery; it is unrestrainable by the Incomprehensible One. It is invisible to all those who are visible in the All. It is a Light dwelling in Light."

with especially important (or at least *interesting*) information from the Ancients upon Sophia:

THE GOSPEL OF PHILIP
http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/naghamm/gop.html

" 'The Father' and 'the Son' are single names; 'the Holy Spirit' is a double name. For they are everywhere: they are above, they are below; they are in the concealed, they are in the revealed. The Holy Spirit is in the revealed: it is below. It is in the concealed: it is above."

The MetaLogos translation of THE GOSPEL OF PHILIP http://www.metalog.org/philip.html has illuminating footnotes.

"The apostles said to the disciples, 'May our entire offering obtain salt.' They called Sophia 'salt'. Without it, no offering is acceptable. But Sophia is barren, without child. For this reason, she is called "a trace of salt". Wherever they will [...] in their own way, the Holy Spirit [...], and her children are many."

THE SOPHIA OF JESUS CHRIST http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/naghamm/sjc.html

"The perfect Savior said: 'Son of Man consented with Sophia, his consort, and revealed a great androgynous light. His male name is designated *Savior, Begetter of All Things*. His female name is designated *All-Begettress Sophia*. Some call her *Pistis*.

"...Sophia, the Mother of the Universe..."

"...this came about by the will of Mother Sophia..."

"After the natural structure of the immortal beings had completely developed out of the infinite, a likeness then emanated from Pistis (Faith); it is called Sophia (Wisdom). It exercised volition and became a product resembling the primeval light. And immediately her will manifested itself as a likeness of heaven, having an unimaginable magnitude; it was between the immortal beings and those things that came into being after them, like [...]: she (Sophia) functioned as a veil dividing mankind from the things above."

THE HYPOSTASIS OF THE ARCHONS
http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/naghamm/hypostas.html

"As incorruptibility looked down into the region of the waters, her image appeared in the waters; and the authorities of the darkness became enamored of her. But they could not lay hold of that image, which had appeared to them in the waters, because of their weakness - since beings that merely possess a soul cannot lay hold of those that possess a spirit - for they were from below, while it was from above. This is the reason why incorruptibility looked down into the region (etc.): so that, by the father's will, she might bring the entirety into union with the light."

THE APOCRYPHON OF JOHN
http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/naghamm/apocjn.html

"And the invisible, virginal Spirit rejoiced over the light which came forth, that which was brought forth first by the first power of his forethought, which is Barbelo. And he anointed it with his goodness until it became perfect, not lacking in any goodness, because he had anointed it with the goodness of the invisible Spirit. And it attended him as he poured upon it. And immediately when it had received from the Spirit, it glorified the holy Spirit and the perfect forethought, for whose sake it had come forth."

13.

"And it placed the mother as head. And it gave to her ten aeons, there being a myriad powers in each aeon, and a monad and an ennead in each aeon.

"And it placed in her an all-womb, And it gave to her a power so that she should place it hidden within her, so that no one should know it. And it placed in her a great rule with three powers standing by it: an unbegotten one, an unmoved one, and the great pure one." <...>

16.

"Afterwards the mother established her first-born son. She gave to him the authority of the sonship. And she gave to him hosts of angels and archangels. And she gave to him twelve powers to serve him. And she gave to him a garment in which to accomplish all things."<...>

17.

"And the mother of the All and the forefather and the self- father and the protogenitor and the powers of the aeon of the mother sang a great song of praise, blessing the One Alone, saying: 'Thou alone art the infinite one, thou alone art the deep, and thou alone art the unknowable one.' " <...>

The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh
http://www.bahai.com/Bahaullah/hiddenwords.htm

Part 2, 82. The mystic and wondrous Bride, hidden ere this beneath the veiling of utterance, hath now, by the grace of God and His divine favor, been made manifest even as the resplendent light shed by the beauty of the Beloved. I bear witness, O friends! that the favor is complete, the argument fulfilled, the proof manifest and the evidence established. Let it now be seen what your endeavors in the path of detachment will reveal. In this wise hath the divine favor been fully vouchsafed unto you and unto them that are in heaven and on earth.

Part 2, 18. O YE DWELLERS IN THE HIGHEST PARADISE!
Proclaim unto the children of assurance that within the realms of holiness, nigh unto the celestial paradise, a new garden hath appeared, round which circle the denizens of the realm on high and the immortal dwellers of the exalted paradise. Strive, then, that ye may attain that station, that ye may unravel the mysteries of love from its wind-flowers and learn the secret of divine and consummate wisdom from its eternal fruits. Solaced are the eyes of them that enter and abide therein!

Tablet of the Houri
by Baha'ul'lah
http://bahai-library.org/provisionals/houri.html

God hath purified the hem of Her purity from the knowledge of the concourse of names in the realm of eternity, and Her face from the view of all who are in the kingdom of creation. When She arose with the ornament of God from Her palace, She looked with one glance toward the sky. The people of the heavens swooned at the rays of Her visage and at the wafting of Her perfume. Then She looked with another glance toward the earth, and it was illumined by the lights of Her beauty and the loveliness of Her splendor.

Then I drew near, till She stood before my face and gave utterance as a dove warbles in the realm of eternity, as though speaking in the wondrous music that hath no words, letters or sounds. It is as though all books appeared in commentary on the songs of Her innovation.

[...] I raised my hand another time, and bared one of Her breasts that had been hidden beneath Her gown. Then the firmament was illumined by the radiance of its light, contingent beings were made resplendent by its appearance and effulgence, and by its rays infinite numbers of suns dawned forth, as though they trekked through heavens that were without beginning or end. <...> She moved upon the earth of essence in the substance of manifestation.

"While we are saving the world, we can enjoy ourselves immensely, because at last we are participating in the great immortal psycho-drama of unfolding history. We become an integral part of the emerging meaning of existence, and by our very actions, part of the matrix - the womb of the becoming. In return for our contribution to immortality, we experience gnosis - the eternal fire of cosmic consciousness in the evolving garden of earthly delight - enlightenment in paradise.

"Although each of us will in the end suffer a sacrificial mortality of the flesh, just as Jesus, Perpetua and all who have gone before, we will return to the cosmic womb, the common-ground, having fulfilled the space-time journey of healing and becoming which our cosmic consciousness and free-will have made possible.

"The worship of the Mother of All Living is an overflowing bounty, in celebrating the natural pleasures of life and sampling her diverse fruits - the Soma of immortality, which gives forth both peace and inebriety - the gift of vision of the sages - the true gnosis. We can celebrate carrying out the sacred act to our heart's content. Sing and dance together. Make endless love. Know the one. Care for and be humane to those in distress. Try to ensure the parting is peaceful and each new being is cherished. Celebrate the seasons and the fullness of life, but guard the immortal - the unfolding diversity of life - at all times!" -- Chris King

Consummation Part 2:
The Eden of Genesis
http://www.dhushara.com/book/consum/consum1.htm#anchor242112

Notice that Eve asks for wisdom, Sophia rather than the analytic "knowledge of good and evil". Poor Eve was sadly tricked because the knowledge of good and evil -- the competitive spermatogenic principle is the male's strategy; hers was of the tree of life, synthesis, sustainability and wisdom.

Dancing in the Flames
http://www.dhushara.com/book/proph/dg/darkg.htm#anchor2041785

The prophecy of Sophia from the end of Chaos and Creativity

"The Virgin is moving towards a consciousness that has never before been possible on the planet. In her embodyment she is known. She is recognised by her beloved. She receives the penetration of the spirit that will change consciousness forever."

The Poetic Irony of Prophecy
http://www.dhushara.com/book/proph/prophecy.htm

In 1 Kings 10:13 it is noted "And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants. Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold."

The number 666 is the bounty that comes from the wisdom or Sophia of Solomon in "giving unto the queen of Sheba all her desire" - that is in accepting the divine complementation of female and male, Garden and Kingdom, body and mind.. Recall that in Matthew 12:41, Jesus says "The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation."

The reality of history is that the mark of the human beast, "Homo", for all its apocalyptic folly and violence, is "sapiens" - wisdom. Sophia, Sapientia of the Greeks, the shekina of wisdom of the gnostics, has already made her prophetic mark in human destiny. We are named after the shekina, and will stand and fall both by her wisdom and by the heritage of her existence. The number 666 is the number of wisdom and the name of the beast is sapiens. Amen.

A HOMILY ON THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SOPHIA by Rev. Steven Marshall
http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/homily_Descent.htm

"The descent of Sophia is the descent of the redeeming power of the Divine Feminine as expressed in three important female images: Eve, the Virgin Mary, and Mary Magdalen."

SOPHIA, MOTHER OF WISDOM by Zos Imos
http://www.gnosis.org/sophia.tale.html

"And it is said, that in the Garden of Eden, created by the lower Father God, that Eve was the manifestation of the Lower Wisdom and that the serpent or snake of the tree, was actually the Christos who urged Eve to eat the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge that she might attain the true Gnosis or knowledge of her origins and realize the Higher Sophia in perfect illumination and bliss. But the Father God, discovering that this secret teaching was disturbing his supremacy in the lower realms grew angry and cast them out of the garden and into the suffering of the world. Yet each and every descendent has this spark and the potential to recover the true Gnosis."

KISSING SOPHIA
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/1257/

"Everything flows from the womb of wisdom.
<...>
"This is all about you, ultimately."

WHO IS SOPHIA?
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/1257/sophia.html

"Beyond this world of time and space;
Sophia stands alone...
complete and whole unto Herself."

GREAT Links Page:

http://www.hermeticfellowship.org/HFGnosticResources.html

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Sophia -- as revealed thru the Shakers

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THE DIVINE BOOK OF HOLY AND ETERNAL WISDOM
http://www.passtheword.org/SHAKER-MANUSCRIPTS/Holy-Wisdom/wsdmndex.htm

"...Adam and Eve the first... were created in earthly tabernacles, in the image of God and his Eternal Wisdom..."

"The Female Spirit Placed in her Order, in Christ, as the second Eve"

"As the order of the old creation was not completed, until the woman was brought forth and set in her order; so also the new creation was not completed, until the female spirit was brought forth and placed in her order, in Christ, as the second Eve."

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"About the Woman 'clothed with the Sun' in the Vision of St. John; Prophecy about this Book and the Sacred Roll"

"2 The Woman seen in the vision, represented the Eternal Mother Wisdom, who first brought forth Christ in the male order, Therefore saith her first-born Son, 'Wisdom is justified of all her children.' She was the Mother of that testimony of everlasting truth in him which roused the enmity of the great dragon of iniquity, who sought to devour this holy child as soon as he was brought forth; but this he could not effect."

from "The Office of the Spiritual Mother in the New Creation"

"7 And this same woman, whom the world of mankind have rejected, (even as they rejected the stone which afterwards became the head of the corner,) the same, saith the Lord, hath become the Mother of the New Creation. And although the beastly powers of antichrist did arise and persecute the woman and her righteous seed; and although the dragon did cast forth floods out of his mouth, to swallow up and destroy her testimony, as soon as it was brought forth; yet the earth helped the woman: for I the Lord did always stir up the spirit of someone to befriend my Anointed, and rescue her from the cruel grasp of her enemies."

"WISDOM speaks on the Role of the Woman in Regeneration"

"22 For the ancient prophecy is now fulfilling, 'And the Bride shall appear, and she coming forth shall be seen, that is now withdrawn from the earth.' That is, in the dispensation of the Bride, Holy Mother Wisdom will come forth and be revealed in her true order; and will be known, even as the Eternal Father is known." ~~ Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom; Part VI; Chapter 2

http://www.passtheword.org/SHAKER-MANUSCRIPTS/Holy-Wisdom/wisdm9x.htm#6.2

THE TREE OF FAITH
by Jane Lead
http://www.passtheword.org/Jane-Lead/trefaith.htm

19. Some considerable time afterward, I was again call'd in Spirit to view this Tree of Faith, and the Tree now seem'd to be enlightened with a bright Body, which appeared standing in the midst of it: and it bore all those several mentioned sorts of Fruits, being therewith most richly laden, but none were yet Ripe, or fit for Eating. But the Bright Body in the Tree said; Go, call such as willing are to wait for the Transmuting Power, to act forth the Amazing Wonders of a God. Let such, with thee, come, and sit under this Tree, till the Fruit into Gold ye shall see to be turned. Then eat thereof ye shall, and Power will be born suddenly, to do and act in the Property and Nature of the Holy Ghost. For this must Transmute, and alter the whole Inward Part; for that it will be no less than the Leaven of the Deity it self. Whence this hath been frequently repeated to me, that this kind of Power, which we would have, must proceed from a deep Ground, and Root; which is no less than the Godhead.

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from ESOTERIC TRADITIONS:

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VIRGIN SOPHIA by Jack Courtis
http://www.crcsite.org/ViriginSophia.htm

"From this virgin spirit comes the 'self-originate' and subsequently 'wisdom'. Hence the sexual connotation of virginity is our imperfect attempt to grasp the metaphysical concept of self-origination. Truly this has to do with wisdom and not with ignorance."

"Let us look at the figure in the diagram. She is crowned with 12 stars and her face shines like the sun. She is pregnant."

What Is Shaktism?
by Devi Bhakta
http://shaktisadhana.50megs.com/index.html

Shaktas say Shakti is the One; that She is Reality, and that Her reality has two aspects: The Transcendent, and the Manifest. They are both real. This world is real -- Maya is not a complete illusion, a fake -- but rather, it is a veil. Mother has given us senses, not to fool us and mislead us, but to enable us to function in a three-dimensional world of individual people and objects, all governed by the laws of physics.

"I am Manifest Divinity, Unmanifest Divinity, and Transcendent Divinity. I am Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, as well as Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. I am the Sun and I am the Stars, and I am also the Moon. I am all animals and birds, and I am the outcaste as well, and the thief. I am the low person of dreadful deeds, and the great person of excellent deeds. I am Female, I am Male, and I am Neuter."

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SCHOLARLY TREATMENTS OF SOPHIA:

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GNOSTIC CHRISTIANITY AND THE MYTH OF SOPHIA by Bette Stockbauer
http://www.shareintl.org/archives/religion/rl_bsgnostic.htm

"Sophia-Achamoth is a very high spirit, an emanation (along with her consort, the Christ) of her mother, the Elder Sophia. They all live in the spiritual land beyond the earth called the Pleroma. Gazing down into the world of matter, the younger Sophia sees reflected there a transcendent light. Drawn by desire to possess this light and duplicate its image she leaves her heavenly consort, the Christ, and descends into the world of matter."

THE ROLE OF THE SACRED FEMININE IN THE GNOSTIC PANTHEONS AND THE MYSTERY OF THE BRIDAL CHAMBER by Soror A.L.
http://www.hermeticgoldendawn.org/Feminine.htm

"However, because even to Philo, God as transcendent abstract Deity was incomprehensible, intermediary figures were needed to connect the created world to the ineffable. Philo was perhaps the first to clearly elaborate upon the connection between Word or Logos with Wisdom/Sophia:

'This issues forth out of Eden: the Sophia of God, and this is the Logos of God.'(6)

"Elsewhere he describes Sophia as the 'first-born Mother of all things" and the Logos as "the eldest-born image of God.' (7) His precedent for making these associations, however, was already clearly in place, for Old Testament literature also associated the 'Wisdom which formed humans' (Wisdom 9:1-2) and the Word, as divine intermediary, by whom all things were made.

Elsewhere Philo speaks of an androgynous Deity, the 'metropator' or 'father-mother.' (8)"

WHAT BECAME OF GOD THE MOTHER?
by Elaine Pagels
http://www.womenpriests.org/body/pagels.htm

A second characterization of the divine Mother describes her as Holy Spirit. One source, the Secret Book of John, for example, relates how John, the brother of James, went out after the crucifixion with "great grief," and had a mystical vision of the Trinity: "As I was grieving... the heavens were opened, and the whole creation shone with an unearthly light, and the universe was shaken. I was afraid... and behold... a unity in three forms appeared to me, and I marvelled: how can a unity have three forms?" To John's question, the vision answers: "It said to me, 'John, John, why do you doubt, or why do you fear?... I am the One who is with you always: I am the Father; I am the Mother; I am the Son.'(11) John's interpretation of the Trinity -- as Father, Mother, and Son -- may not at first seem shocking but is perhaps the more natural and spontaneous interpretation. Where the Greek terminology for the Trinity, which includes the neuter term for the spirit (pneuma), virtually requires that the third "Person" of the Trinity be asexual, the author of the Secret Book looks to the Hebrew term for spirit, ruah -- a feminine word. He thus concludes, logically enough, that the feminine "Person" conjoined with Father and Son must be the Mother! Indeed, the text goes on to describe the Spirit as Mother: "the image of the invisible virginal perfect spirit.... She became the mother of the all, for she existed before them all, the mother-father [matropater]."(l2) This same author, therefore, alters Genesis 1:2 ("the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep") to say, "the Mother then was moved."(13) The secret Gospel to the Hebrews likewise has Jesus speak of "my Mother, the Spirit."(l4) And in the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus contrasts his earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, with his divine Father -- the Father of Truth -- and his divine Mother, the Holy Spirit. The author interprets a puzzling saying of Jesus in the New Testament ("whoever does not hate his father and mother is not worthy of me") by adding: "Whoever does not love his father and his mother in my way cannot be my disciple; for my [earthly] mother gave me death but my true Mother gave me the Life."(15) Another secret gnostic gospel, the Gospel of Phillip, declares that whoever becomes a Christian "gains both a father and a mother."(l6) The author refers explicitly to the feminine Hebrew term to describe the Spirit as "Mother of many."(17)

If these sources suggest that the Spirit constitutes the maternal element of the Trinity, the Gospel of Phillip makes an equally radical suggestion concerning the doctrine that later developed as the virgin birth. Here again the Spirit is praised as both Mother and Virgin, the counterpart-and consort-of the Heavenly Father: "If I may utter a mystery, the Father of the all united with the Virgin who came down" (l8) -- that is,. with the Holy Spirit. Yet because this process is to be understood symbolically, and not literally, the Spirit remains a virgin! The author explains that "for this reason, Christ was 'born of a virgin'" -- that is, of the Spirit, his divine Mother. But the author ridicules those "literal-minded" Christians who mistakenly refer the virgin birth to Mary, Jesus' earthly mother, as if she conceived apart from Joseph: "Such persons do not know what they are saying; for when did a female ever impregnate a female?"(19) Instead, he argues, virgin birth refers to the mysterious union of the two divine powers, the Father of the All with the Holy Spirit.

JESUS; MIRIAM'S CHILD, SOPHIA'S PROPHET:
Critical Issues in Feminist Christology
Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza
http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/sf4.html

49) "Some of the earliest traditions of the Jesus movement understood the mission of Jesus as that of a prophet of Sophia sent to proclaim that the Sophia-G*d of Jesus is the G*d of the poor, the outcasts, and all those suffering from injustice." page 140

"This Sophia lament is not directed against all of Israel or Judaism as a whole but only against the governing authorities in the capital." page 142

"Although the polemical rhetoric of Paul in 1 Corinthians misconstrues the arguments and beliefs of the Corinthian wo/men, it nevertheless indicates that the early Christian missionary movements in urban centers of the Greco-Roman world understood Jesus in terms of Sophia-Spirit." page 149

"... the Corinthian wo/men prophets understood themselves and other apostles as standing in a long line of Sophia' emissaries." page 150

"In this latter view Paul insists on Christ's death as a model whose downward path unto death and subordination to G*d must be imitated. It is Paul who asserts the revelatory authority of a few - and especially of himself- as the only "father" of the community. His rhetoric of cajoling and threat bespeaks his own tenuous status in the community of Sophia and not his actual kyriarchal power. Such kyriocentric rhetoric, however, paved the way for the transformation of the radical democratic ekklesia of Sophia-Spirit into a "school of the wise" built on the exclusivist revelatory discourses between "father(s) and son(s)." page 150

"As we have seen, in contrast to Jewish and Gnostic Wisdom literature only a very few direct traces of Divine Wisdom are found in Christian canonical writings." page 155

"As I have argued throughout this chapter, I find the early "Jesus messenger of Sophia" traditions theologically significant because they assert the unique particularly of Jesus without having to resort to exclusivity and superiority." page 157

"Jesus as sage and prophet of Sophia provides us with two christological images. One presents Jesus as a wise teacher, who in his concrete life relates to our ongoing quest for a gracious G*d. . . . The other insight is that Jesus' teaching is meant not only for hearing but also for being acted upon." page 157

SOPHIA IN THE BIBLICAL TRADITION BY SUSAN CADY, MARIAN RONAN AND HAL TAUSSIG Book Reviewed by Karen Vaughan Taussig from SUNSHINE FOR WOMEN, BOOK SUMMARIES
http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/book-sum/sophia.html

"Paul explicitly identifies Jesus with Sophia in 1st Corinthians 1:23-25,30 'By God's action, Jesus Christ has become our Sophia.' Then following, in 2:6-8, 'But still we have a Sophia to offer those who have reached maturity: not a philosophy of our age, it is true....The hidden Sophia of God which we teach in our mysteries is the Sophia that God predestined to be for our glory before the ages began....'"

[The Winsome One also highly commends to your attention, at the *Sunshine for Women* WebSite:
"Reclaiming Eve: 1500 Years of Feminist Commentary on the Creation Stories in Genesis"
http://www.pinn.net/~sunshine/whm2000/whm_00.html ]

GODDESSES YES GODDESS NO! THE FEMININE AND THE MULTI-CENTERED GOD IMAGE by Stephan A. Hoeller
http://www.webcom.com/~gnosis/goddesses.htm

"The discovery and assimilation of early heterodox Christian scriptures (such as the Nag Hammadi library) will also facilitate the revival of goddess figures within a new Gnostic Christian mythos. Goddesses such as Barbelo and Sophia, demigoddesses like Eve-Zoe and Norea, and heroines such as Mary Magdalene are emerging from exile and are awaiting reincorporation into Christian scriptures and liturgy. ...One even feels that Christ, the incarnate paradigm of the Fullness, who assured us that in his Father's house there are many divinities, would be pleased by the coming of a new polytheism."

"7 And Andrew's wife's mother with her beloved Mona of Tunis, writhed in ecstasy, and anon they all glorified God our Mother. And I came and kissed Rahab and Mona, and kneaded them with heated oils from Persia and Thebes, very costly.

"8 And soon enough ecstasy descended upon us, and God our Mother whispered unto Jesus, "Minister unto them that know not the Holy Ghost; save them from eternal blindness; save them upon thy resurrection and open their eyes that they may see."

"32 Myrrh and frankincense, wild musk and Sheba, the north winds licked the rosebuds that peaked above the burning bush; and the earth quaked and trembled within Her; and the moistened leaves dripped with dew upon the angels; and these are they who shall be faithful to the children of mysteries.

"33 She abides under a double-rainbow between two bamboo and an altar; and She sits as the Queen of Heaven; and in Her right hand, She holds Her cup of Mysteries; these secrets of holy ecstasies."

"In the second half of Isaiah, God could be described as a woman giving birth (Is. 42:14 and 46:3-4) or a nursing mother (Is. 49:15 and 66:12-13). There is also the title of God, El Shaddai, used six times in Genesis (17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, 48:3, and 49:25), that can be translated as 'God with breasts'."

Since male dominance, '...he shall rule over you' (Gen. 3:16), is the direct result of sin, it could be argued that the death and resurrection of Jesus, by conquering sin, restored women as God's representatives on earth. Therefore, when any man tries to 'rule over' any woman he is rejecting the redemption offered by Christ and clinging to his sin instead." -- Robert K. Meyer II

Wisdom is always female. <...>

Wisdom bears with her the characteristics of all other goddesses associated with the idea of Wisdom - she is the creatrix of the universe, its maintainer and sustainer; at the same time, she is in every part of it, and in ourselves as human beings. Her Wisdom nature in us enables us to take Part in the life of the universe. <...>

In mainstream Christianity, which immediately followed the period of the Book of Wisdom, this figure was still immensely powerful. So much so, that the Christian Fathers of the early church decreed that Wisdom was to be taken to be Jesus Christ, since Wisdom must be masculine, and the author of the prologue to the fourth gospel (John 1:1-18) makes this very clear. Other gospel writers (Matthew and Luke particularly) specifically state that Wisdom is Jesus Christ, and Paul in his various letters identified Christ as the Wisdom of God.

A corollary of the shift of gender, and the demotion of the female deity, was, the demotion of women (Paul is an expert at this). Many feminist writers have shown how nature was made to be considered inferior to 'culture' which was male-orientated; that 'inferior' women were identified with nature, and man was held to be created to 'dominate' both.

<...> Wisdom is the source of knowledge of all kinds - cosmic, magical, mysterious, poetic, healing, intuitive - all these: but also straight 'out there' knowledge, about the functioning of matter, medicine, astronomy, astrology, botany, meteorology and so on. This is knowledge that has been raped from women.

But as I have tried to show, all knowledge is woman's knowledge; if we give away the Objective and analytical part of our brains because male supremacy has convinced us there is nothing there for us, we have given away some of our Wisdom, our Sophia, our Hochmah. She is within us as, is Isis and Ma'at, Nisaba and Tiamat. We need to reclaim Wisdom, and Knowledge; not to shun it. We need to combine it with intuition, magic and inspiration as our foremothers did. ~~© Asphodel P. Long (Arachne 6, 1987)

Works of Asphodel P. Long
http://www.amaranthine.freeserve.co.uk/pages/list_of_works.htm

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SOPHIA IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, TODAY

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THE ROSARY OF OUR LADY
(C)1998 by The Rev. Shadwynn, O.A.G
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2310/rosary.htm

WOMEN'S OPEN AND AFFIRMING CANDLEMAS
http://www.gaiarising.org/imbolc.html

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY SEA RAVEN

Service. Brighton Unitarian Church 21. 4. 96
http://www.amaranthine.freeserve.co.uk/pages/articles/service_96.htm

Service. Brighton Unitarian Church. 2nd March 1997
http://www.amaranthine.freeserve.co.uk/pages/articles/service_97.htm

The next is the question that thealogian Carol Christ famously asked some twenty years ago: Is "the Goddess" as a symbol of life, death and rebirth only within ourselves or is She also "out there"? Is She a divine female personification who can be invoked in prayer and ritual? In this context I will add the question, Is She One or Many?

We find the surprising suggestion current among the most distinguished of modern biblical scholars: that the setting up of a flaming sword to guard the access to the Tree of life is a way the writers of Genesis used to deny the people access to the goddess, in particular the goddess Asherah.

Other visions of female divinity point to a profusion of goddesses, of aspects, and of deities representing the cultures and societies in which they were worshipped. But in all cases where the female divine is sought and renewed today, certain constants are upheld. She asserts the sacrality of nature, and combines spirituality with physicality as well as matters of the soul and the intellect. She is part of the dark as well as the light - just as seeds need the dark to germinate, and plants need the light to grow; she is often depicted in animal form, or part human, part animal, or manifests like Asherah, as a tree or tree branches of tree or a tree trunk, showing the one-ness of all nature. It is important to remember that there was no concept of original sin, and sexuality respected as sacred was not confined to heterosexual marriage. ~~© Asphodel P. Long 1997

[FEMININE] IMAGE OF THE TRINITY
Sisters Of Saint Joseph Of Carondelet
http://www.csjsl.org/Default.asp?ContentID=148&SectionID=26

The name I choose for God is Sophia. Sophia means Wisdom. Wisdom is the name given to God throughout the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. This image of God named Sophia has three persons: Mother Sophia, Jesus Sophia and Spirit Sophia. (See She Who Is by Elizabeth Johnson). Mother Sophia is the Creator of all life. Jesus Sophia is Wisdom incarnated, the Word became flesh. And Spirit Sophia is the breath of God, in each of us and in our world.

The three qualities of God are personified in the three figures. God is beyond us, Mother Sophia, God is beside us, Jesus Sophia, God is within us, Spirit Sophia. In my prayer I have known and needed all three of these qualities of God.

FELLOWSHIP OF ISIS
http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/liturgy/sophiaintro.html

I offer these Rites as twelve doorways into stellar consciousness for those who have the faith of children and the wisdom of their elders. For the Divine Sophia enlightens all who seek Her, and speaks more potently through myth and faery tale than She can through learned tomes of philosophy! She lifts Her Veil and shows Herself lovingly to those who would enjoy that bliss which comes through the union of Love and Truth.

[from the Re:Imagining Conference]:

• We affirm God-Sophia, Woman Wisdom who fashioned us in the image of the divine as women and men.
• We affirm Jesus-Sophia, wisdom incarnate in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
• We call the church to welcome and celebrate the gifts of all people: women, men, children, persons of all classes, races, ethnicities, sexual orientations.
• We join our voices and lives in the joy of Womenspirit rising around the world, cherishing our future of worship and work together.
• We call the church to confess that for too long the female imagery for God in Scripture has been suppressed and marginalized in favor of male imagery which serves to legitimate patriarchy.
• We call the church to acknowledge and confess that it participates in idolatry when it adheres to exclusively male images of God.
• We affirm the freedom to be innovative and creative as we name God in our own forms of speech and actions.
• Blessed are you who affirm the diversity of gender and sexual orientation and who welcome diversity as enriching the human community.
• Blessed are you who respect the moral agency of women to make decisions about their reproductive lives, and who comfort and sustain them in this process.
• We are open to new ways of being reformed by the wild and untamed Spirit.

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE
Book One

The Original Hebrew and Aramaic Texts
Translated and edited by EDMOND BORDEAUX SZEKELY
http://www.thenazareneway.com/essene_gospel_of_peace_book1.htm

And they asked him in amazement: "Who is our Mother and which her angels? And where is her kingdom?"

when you come to know her and her kingdom; if you receive your Mother's angels and if you do her laws. I tell you truly, he who does these things shall never see disease. For the power of our Mother is above all."

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE, Book Two
THE UNKNOWN BOOKS OF THE ESSENES
translated and edited by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely
from the Original Hebrew and Aramaic Texts
http://www.thenazareneway.com/essene_gospel_of_peace_book_two.htm#EarthlyMothe

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE, Book Three
Lost Scrolls of the Essene Brotherhood
Translated and edited from the original Hebrew and Aramaic texts
by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely
http://www.thenazareneway.com/essene_gospel_of_peace_Book_3.htm

The ESSENE GOSPEL OF PEACE
The Teachings of the Elect, Book Four
Translated and edited by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely
http://www.thenazareneway.com/essene_gospel_of_peace_book_4.htm#HolyStreams

Unfold your wings of light, and in the eye of your thought, soar with the stars into the farthest reaches of heaven, where untold suns blaze with light. For at the beginning of the times, the Holy Law said, let there be Light, and there was Light. And you shall be one with it, and the power of the Holy Light Stream will fill your whole body, and you will tremble before its might. Say the word "Light," as you breathe deeply of the angel of air, and you will become the Light itself; and the Holy Stream will carry you to the endless kingdom of the Heavenly Father, there losing itself in the eternal Sea of Light which gives birth to all creation. And you shall be one with the Holy Stream of Light, always before you sleep in the arms of the Heavenly Father.

ESSENE COMMUNIONS WITH THE INFINITE by Edmond Bordeaux Szekely
http://www.thenazareneway.com/essene_commumtions_with_the_infinite.htm

31 HYMNS TO THE STAR GODDESS
by Fr. Achad (Charles Stansfield Jones)
http://www.hermetic.com/browe-archive/achad/misc/31hymns.htm

Mother of the Sun, Whose Body is White with the Milk of the Stars, bend upon Thy servant and impart unto him Thy Secret Kiss!

Enkindle within him the Holy Ecstasy Thou hast promised unto them that love Thee; the Ecstasy which redeemeth from all pain.

AN HYMNE OF HEAVENLY BEAVTIE
Edmund Spenser
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/hymnes.html#4

FATIMAH, MARY AND THE DIVINE FEMININE IN ISLAM
http://www.sol.com.au/kor/22_02.htm

At the very core of Islamic philosophy there is evidence of what can be called a vision of the Motherhood of God.

In the first Sura of the Koran, the Fatiha that is recited by millions of Muslims in their daily devotions, God is called Al Rahmin, the merciful and compassionate one. "Ramin" is derived from the Arabic for "womb" or "matrix", mercy is also a feminine attribute, and so Muslims are reminded that God can be either woman or man. Every day God is compared to a mother and woman.

The Sufi poetry teaches the feminine qualities of joy, love, tenderness and self sacrifice on a path of true knowledge derived from the spiritual heart. The spiritual rebirth of the individual is not unlike the trial and tribulation of physical childbirth, according to the Sufis. They take the principle of divine love and use it to facilitate the process of alchemical transformation from mundane human to spiritual being.

DANCING THE MYSTERIOUS GAME OF LIFE
http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/streiber/536/tarotdec.htm

This card has many names... Eve, Shekina, Sophia, Mother Nature, Truth, the Bride, the System, Major Fortune, Anima Mercury, the Universe, and The World. On this card we often see either a woman or an adrogyne encirled by a wreath. ...The conscious and the unconscious are in communion. The sacred marriage has been achieved. Never "born" and never "dying"... never coming, never going, no beginning(Alpha) and no end(Omega) she dances the dance of LIFE.

THE MANNA OF HEAVEN
thru Norea St. John
http://www.cosmicwind.net/800/Cmwl/Norea/Manna.html

i am Sophia; i am Isis; i am Aphrodite; infinite are my faces and woomanifestations. i am Epinoia, i am Protennoia, i am Barbelo, i am Mirothea. i am the beginning and the endlessness, the Divine Breath that is Life itself, the divine spark that is your very soul, the Essence of the Holy. My body is matter, itself; my mind is the intelligence that animates it. Energy is my fecund generativity. The Gods, Themselves, have all suckled upon these bountiful breasts -- else they had known no Divine Wisdom to impart; they learned to love from my own heart. i am the Light of Lights that every God mirrors -- as Living Divinity.

Taste these fragments of forever; experience the joy of freedom in me! My compassion is the power to make live.

SOPHIA SPEAKS:
thru Norea St. John
http://www.cosmicwind.net/800/Cmwl/Norea/SophiaSpeaks.html

From THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON
http://www.cosmicwind.net/800/Cmwl/VisionVoices2/ShePervadesAndPenetratesAllThings.html

EMBRACE WISDOM!
by Wynn Manners
http://www.cosmicwind.net/800/Cmwl/WynnPoetry/EmbraceWisdom.html

From THE ODES OF SOLOMON
Frank John Culley
http://www.cosmicwind.net/800/Cmwl/VisionVoices/FromOdesOfSolomon.html

COSMIC MOTHER, WISDOM'S LOVERS
http://www.cosmicwind.net/800/Cmwl/CmwlIdx.html

~~wynn manners

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SOPHIA DISCUSSION GROUPS

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EMBRACING SOPHIA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EmbracingSophia/

To embrace Sophia is to embrace Divine Wisdom.

She is Divine *Presence*, the Goddess of goddesses (and "Sophia" is only one of Her Namings). She is the Living Holy Spirit Herself -- as Yeshua knew Her.

Sophia is the Pearl of Immeasureable Price... She is priceless... the Eternal Treasure beyond measure.

Individuals from all spiritual paths seeking pure-hearted communion in *Her* are welcome here.

*Embracing Sophia* is for any who found the ReImaging Conferences to be a part of the massive Second Pentecost that is a result of *Her* return into human awareness, as the Divinely InSpiriting Force of the New Age.

YESHUA*MIRYA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/yeshuamirya/

Did Holy Spirit Sophia enter into Mary Magdalene as, similarly, Cosmic Christ entered into Yeshua? Were they Divine Lovers?

Where is Mary Magdalene now?

If you have spiritual insight into these matters, please join us and share.

SOPHIA'S DREAM
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SophiasDream/

Sophia Speaks: I come to you in dreams; I give visions; I speak in oracles. I am Love who makes all things beautiful for you. I breathe Breath of Divinity into you, through you. Be my Breath, and live in me.

A SEEKER OF TRUTH
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASeekerOfTruth/

What are the Keys to Eternal Life -- to genuine godhood & goddesshood, itself?

Why have they been hidden from humanity since the Beginning of Time?

What Divine Gifts have we been given that are yet to be recognized and developed?

How is genuine Peace to be attained? How is Love to be expanded? How is Paradise to be regained -- & *returned* to this Earthly Garden in all its awesome fullness, in blossoming bliss unending?

For what deeply *spiritual* reason was each of us borne into this life?

CHRIST*SOPHIA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChristSophia/

Who is Sophia and how can we find Her? What is Her connection to Christ Jesus? Most importantly what is her significance to our world today? We will follow the stream of the Kwan Yin, Bet Kol (Daughter Voice of God), Shekinah, Sophia and Magdalena, to find the answers to the ongoing question of "What happened to Mother God and Her Daughters".

SOPHIA'S WEB
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sophiasweb/

Sophia's (Wisdom's) Web is designed to heighten the member's sense of love and connection to Nature and hence lead to healing the planet. Participants in Sophia's Web discussion should feel deep within themselves that being natural and being spiritual are not two ways of being.

Through the belief in Nature as being Self (Essence), Sophia's Web is also a support to help foster creativity in the participants through writing, art, and conversation. Just as Nature is our Mother and Father and we reflect Her, we are reflected in our arts. Knowledge of the Self and knowledge of Nature are one and the same.

SPIRITUAL WONDERLAND COVEN
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spiritual_wonderland/

The Temple of Sophia Iseum is dedicated to Isis-Sophia, the eternal and divine Wisdom. She embraces and helps us in times of need, and takes on different faces to meet her children. She is the all-embracing vibrant energy that sustains the universe and generates all, she is the wisdom that governs all, and that we can attain through devotion to her, she is the loving mother, she is the mother of god and mankind, and she is the fierce, proud and boasting one that no-one has been able to seize...

SOPHIA*WISDOM
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SophiaWisdom/

Sophia transcends culture, religion and pantheon. She is an ever present Mother Goddess.

Referred to in Biblical scripture as Hagia Sophia or Holy Wisdom, she has held less prominence than the male aspect of God. She is seemingly a background to Christos and God, but she remains ever present.

Thomas Merton writes, "Sophia in all things is the Divine Life reflected in them."

Sophia is the Divine feminine and reflective of other forms of the feminine Divine.

This group will have a little of everything; poetry about the Divine feminine, discussions of books and images of the Divine in all forms, personal viewpoints, and open sharing.

SOPHIA'S REALM
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SophiasRealm/

The purpose of this group is to discuss: the Divine Feminine -- Gender and Archteype in Religion and Myth -- Women's Mysteries -- Herbs -- Spiritual Healing -- Natural Healing -- Magic through Imagining -- Nature Spirits, Faeries, Angels and Spiritual Guides -- Higher Self and Inner Divine ~~ Dreams and Dreamtime Realities -- Divination and Magic -- Astrology -- Reincarnation -- Ritual -- Karma -- Poetry and Myth -- MetaPhysics and Quantum Physics -- Goddesses from A to Z -- Mother Goddess & Father God ~~ Mary Magdalene, Bride of Christ, and Holy Grail -- Historical Jesus and Cosmic Christ.

TEMPLE OF SOPHIA
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/temple_of_sophia/

This is a group that welcomes a dialogue on the Feminine Divine in Gnosticism, "traditional" Christianity, Judaism, Islam and the other forms of religion that have dominated west of the Indus River the last two thousand years. This group embraces the Feminine Divine as Wisdom which can be found in a variety of ancient and non-western traditions as well. Isis as Isis-Sophia can be found in the Isiac mysteries that emerged out of Hellenized Egypt over two thousand years ago (if not longer). The Divine Wisdom as Goddess can equally be found in the various Hindu traditions as Saraswati or as Maha-Vidya or as Yoganidra (Yogic Sleep or Trance). In all these traditions we ask of respect and reverence that each of us come from our own path and that which is Truth may transcend all traditions, cultures, histories, circumstances and individual interpretation. This group seeks to find the Sacred Wisdom that has been clouded by the politics of state religions, religious chauvanism, geographical division and all the other human constructs that limit us in our quest for Sacred Wisdom.

STELLA*MIRYAI - STAR OF COMPASSION
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stella-Miryai/

Stella Miryai (Star of Compassion) is an egalitarian learning circle that is dedicated to the study of Mary Magdalene, the Divine Union, and Her place within the divine Godhead.

This group is open to anyone who has an interest in entering into the myths surrounding Mary Magdalene with a group of like-minded people, and discovering what Mary Magdalene may have to tell us today. We will be exploring a variety of literature about Mary Magdalene and we are aiming to become, eventually, an online Order of Mary Magdalene. If you are interested, please join us.