39 pages and counting

[theatokos]

By elevating Mary are we attempting to add something/someone to Christianity that never actually existed? If we draw the parallel between Mary and the Goddess figures of pre-Christian beliefs might Mary be as flawed as those goddesses were, as demanding of loyalty as the male Christian God has been? Can one God expressed in one term speak to all people? Elevating Mary, a lowly human, means that all of humanity, even the lowliest of society, even women, can be elevated. We too can carry the Divine within us; Eastern Orthodox theology best understands that all humans bear the image of the Divine within. Yet, there is still an emphasized maleness in our understanding of God. Jesus was both God and man. A man is our fullest representation of God. Like the Shakers, I ask where is the female fullness of the Divine?


ps- Spent Saturday at Pantheacon, a big four day pagan conference. Hit and miss it was; neat and nerdy, weird and wonderful, as one would expect. I had a thought: perhaps next year I'll put together a lecture on the pagan underpinnings of the Virgin, her similarities and uniquenesses. I suspect there would be interest, and God/dess knows that I am as much, if not more than, qualified to teach judging by some of the presenters I witnessed. I did learn a thing or two. The most important is this: Flee the Gnostic Mass! Aleistaire Crowley can kiss my feminist educated Christian witchy clothed ass.

Comments

[erinya.livejournal.com]

Elevating Mary, a lowly human, means that all of humanity, even the lowliest of society, even women, can be elevated.

That's a dangerous idea right there...but if the elevation of Mary does add something to Christianity that did not exist there before, it would be adding a thing that was missing rather than tacking on an idea that did not belong.

I had an interesting (and slightly frustrating) conversation with my dad yesterday about how his beliefs differ from mine. I think I'll post about it when I've gathered my thoughts. I explained to him how I saw Christianity as missing a feminine representation of divinity, and brought up Mary as goddess as a way of righting the imbalance. He only partially understood my feelings and (not unexpectedly) doesn't think Mary is an important figure. I would venture to say he found the idea threatening. He believes that the focus on Mary in the Catholic Church is harmful because it takes away or distracts from the worship of God/Jesus (almost an exact quote)...also that because Jesus is a mothering/nurturing figure in himself, there is no need for a mother deity in the church. I didn't really expect him to be open to the idea...he also believes that monotheism is a prerequisite for advanced religious ideas, so that the world's religions can be arranged in a hierarchy with Judeo-Christian theology at the apex...but the exchange was an enlightening one for me.

[turquoiselady.livejournal.com]

I ask where is the female fullness of the Divine?

i ask that together with you. reading your thoughts is truly inspiring; thank you for sharing!