Spiritual living is something I investigate on a daily basis. In fact, studying religion has been one of my biggest hobbies for over a decade.

At first, my study was confined within my expression of Orthodox Evangelical Christianity. As I began to see contradictions, my exploration moved into Messianic Christianity, then Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, Pantheism, etc.

I’ve done a lot of studying!

As my spiritual life has evolved, I’ve evolved. I feel like bit by bit, I’m getting closer to understanding ultimate reality. (Though I’ll never completely get there. In fact, I believe there is no possible way for humans to fully understand the Divine with our limited sense perception, which is why we so often use symbolism to describe what we have to say.)

As the Messianic religious layer that I’d superimposed on top of myself began to slip away, my own heritage started to mean a lot more to me, and I circled back into Christianity with the help of Yogananda. (Thank you, Yogananda.) Now I understand more than I ever have before, and I’m not afraid to ask hard questions.

I honestly believe that like Carl Jung said, Jesus Christ is the primary Western archetype of Self, and now I can fully explore that without allowing Orthodox dogmas to weigh me down.

I’ve had lots of big questions. One of them being why has the expression of the feminine in Christianity been so seriously oppressed? Sure, there are feminine figures within the Christian tradition, such as Mary, Mother of God, Mary Magdalene, the Proverbs 31 woman, and others.

But all of these women are not associated as an actual expression of God. They are figures that support the masculine expression of God that we find in the Orthodox Christian Canon.

But wouldn’t it make sense that if all things come from God, then God is an expression of all things? As Paul Tillich has said, God is truly the “ground of all being” that underlies all of our concepts and images.

And the idea that God is only masculine is lop-sided.

The Feminine Goddess is found in many other faith traditions throughout the world, but not in Christianity. At least, not overtly.

And I think it had to do with power.

As the early church left it’s infancy stages it became an organized religion backed by the government. Not only was it backed by the government, Christianity was completely intertwined with the government. In the Byzantine Empire, the Emperor was seen as God’s representative. In the Holy Roman Empire, Popes were crowned Emperors. And in Medieval Europe, Bishops were often powerful land owners, with “missionary work” employed to expand realms.

The Catholic Church taught that God became accessible to humanity through the church…through the bishops, priests, and deacons who administered it. And since in Greco-Roman culture the leaders were men, the leaders of the church needed to be male, too. As Elaine Pagals said, “We may not be surprised, then, to discover how the Orthodox description of God (as “Father Almighty” as example) serves to define who is included…and who is excluded…from participation in the power of priests and bishops.” Female voices have been silenced for millennia.

One way this was accomplished was through the picking of choosing of which texts were allowed into the New Testament and then destroying all others that didn’t fit the narrative.

And there were many other texts, viewpoints, and groups within early Christianity!

In 1945, 52 Christian and Gnostic writings were found by Egyptian farmers in Nag Hammadi, Egypt. These texts give us a crucial glimpse into early Christian life, and the different perspectives prevalent during this time.

Christianity was very diverse in the beginning, and not nearly as patriarchal as it became once it was accepted as the official state religion of the Roman Empire.

Feminine themes were evident, and God was portrayed as both the masculine Word and Wisdom, or the feminine Sophia. And while Sophia isn’t mentioned directly in the New Testament, canonical writings do claim that Christ is the “Wisdom (Sophia) of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:24)

While the feminine is hidden in the Christian Canon, in a way, it’s hidden in plain sight. I hope to share much more about this soon, starting with a discussion about the Holy Spirit.

If Christianity embraced the feminine side of God, our understanding of the divine would become more balanced and complete. Devaluing the Divine feminine allowed Christianity to become a religion of conquest which has ravaged the Earth while nearly wiping out complete people groups.

But we can do better. I’m sure of it, since we already have as our consciousness has evolved. Even now, our culture and religion has shifted away from dualistic and patriarchal thinking into a more holistic way of looking at things.

I can’t wait to see what’s next!

Originally found on Nicole’s Substack