Since 1989, when I did my second pilgrimage, I discovered the feminine face of God. But for most religions, God is a man.
I believe that God has a masculina and a feminine face, rigor and compassion. So, I’d like to hear your opinion on The Feminine Face of God, or The Goddess.
Thank you!
Paulo
DON’T WORRY ABOUT YOUR ENGLISH. BUT IF YOU FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE, POST IN YOUR MOTHER TONGUE (PORTUGUES, ESPANOL, FRANÇAIS, ETC.).
{ 650 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
Next Comments →
Sobre el rostro de Dios:
Lo que yo veo, esque Dios que es el amor pleno, tiene tantas caras como esa plenitud; La cara de la ternura, la cara de la piedad, la cara de la caridad que es el amor mas puro y que engloba creo yo la parte más femenina de su creación; tambien está la cara de la autoridad que en la Justicia, engloba la parte quiza mas masculina de Dios expandiendo fuerza y vitalidad.
Cada uno de nosotros somos creados en una cara muy especifica y única de su amor,`para que cada un en su visión y vocación, podamos dar a conocer la plenitud del Amor de Dios, ese Oceano del que todos formamos parte.
Un saludo Paulo, hermano, que sea la Paz contigo guerrero de la Luz.
i think that God is something we can never discover or comprehend at all. We must just do what He asks of us.
To be frank, I am not a believer in God… But if he/she exists, God must have more feminine characteristics than masculine ones, because I believe that forgiveness is associated more with a woman than a man.
Dear, Crystal
Human can discover God and feel God.
Deus tem duas faces? Um macho e uma fêmea? De uma perspectiva humana, pode ser possível ver isso, mas realmente Deus criou a mulher como “ajuda ideal” para o homem. É dizer ela complementa o homem, e eles passou a ser uma só carne, um ser completo que une duas metades (um homem e uma fêmea). Deus em si é um ser inteiro como um todo não precisa de “Duas Caras”, ele é as dois caras, mais não entendida como gênero humano,sino como um casamento perfeito. Abraços, e Desculpe-me a escritura eu não falo português como língua mãe.
Estimulo sempre que possivel o uso das mensagens em portugues.
Creio que não importa qual é sua verdadeira cara e sim uma busca por seguir os ensinamentos que Ele nos deixou assim e nos mais Tornar-mos Humanos no convívio com o próximo.
Um rosto de Deus está em mim, em você e em cada pessoa que passa pela nossa vida mesmo que de maneira imperceptível.O balconista da padaria, o frentista do posto de gasolina, o pedinte nenhum sinal de trânsito, …
Cuidado em suas atitudes pois o que fazes ao seu irmão em Crito uma fazes o Deus.
Se queres ver o rosto de Deus Diminua uma velocidade de seus passos, pois Ele está nas coisas simples do dia a dia mas nossas vidas apressadas não nos deixam ver.
Holaa paulo! espero que te encuentres bien!
La primera vez que lei sobre ese tema en uno de tus libros no podia entenderlo, hasta la fecha me intriga mucho. Lo que yo entiendo como el rostro femenino de Dios es la virgen (Su madre)de resto lo veo como un hombre
Finding words has been difficult but enjoying this topic and reading with interest.
I am thinking about orange on the color wheel. When looking at it, isolated, I see and appreciate. I cannot immediately see the balances of red and yellow that came first, then blended. But the beauty of orange would not exist without both.
Delicious food from heart to heart. Thank you and a heart FULL of love to All,
Jane : ) xo
I have never thought about it in this way…. :o)
I often like colors that are mixed: a pink with some purple, a white with some yellow, and definitely: orange.
with this topic, I begin to wonder how often I meet the feminine, experience the feeling but just let it pass.
awareness …
Namaste,
In a study of early Christianity, I discovered that they did preach the Feminine face of the Divine. According to the Gospel of Phillip, which historians believe was written around 150 CE, the Holy Spirit is flatly stated as the Divine Feminine. This would hold true with the mystical Jewish vision called Sh’kinah, the presence… the Divine Mother who leaves her beloved on Temple Mount to follow her children after they fled from Israel.
I have written many meditations on this topic. It’s easier to write about God through poetry for me. This is the most concise explanation of my vision of God:
Dance of Sacred Love
Most see god as a man
White haired
A celibate monk
Somewhere in the sky
I see God as Male and Female
Eternally United
In the dance of Sacred Love
One God
Creation lies in her womb
We are maturing
Like a fetus
We are Becoming.
Her Power and Majesty
Flow through us all
It is time
To sing the joy of life
Celebrate becoming
Dance in Creation
And bless each other
With Love
As She blesses us
Every day of our lives
Do unto others
As if they were me
The Divine is not
Long ago
And far away
The Divine is right here
In the soul of my lover
In the heart of my enemy
In the core of my being
Blessed be.
Love to you
Thanks Elaine, love to you too
Pandora
http://timvictor.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/male-female.jpg
:)
Two of which are male and female. There are many side/faces i the universes unknown to men.
Yo crecí, como muchos latinoamericanos, inmersa en lo que llamo “el culto a la masculinidad” que tanto rige nuestros países. En la casa, en la calle, en todos los ámbitos, me sentía como una extranjera: todos los roles de poder, todas las hegemonías, todas las posibilidades, estaban ocupadas por hombres. Afortunadamente, mi madre tuvo la genial idea de ponerme como nombre de nacimiento Isis. Fue como una llave que abría la puerta al maravilloso castillo de mi propia identidad femenina. Ahí estaba la clave: yo misma debería recoger mis pedazos, y a partir de ellos formar, darle nueva vida a esa mujer que sería yo, que habría de vislumbrar el Tercer Milenio. Durante mucho tiempo busqué solamente el ámbito de la diosa: me dediqué a la danza, a la poesía, fijé mi atención en el Yin de mi personalidad. Pero descuidé la parte masculina, el Osiris de la dualidad, el Yan que nos lleva a emprender grandes tareas, a arriesgar, a conquistar lo inalcanzable. Y esa partecita de mí se convirtió en un amasijo de amargura: el vigor del dios estaba reprimido, encadenado… ¿quién puede encadenar a un dios? Nadie. Inicio la cuarta década de mi existencia, pero ahora cohabitan ambos conceptos en mí, en la manera como miro al mundo, en mi forma de percibir a Dios. Masculino y femenino, para formar un nuevo ser, una nueva realidad, una dimensión inédita. Cada día que nace, trato de equilibrar ambos aspectos de mí, y la noche me sorprende dando a luz a nuevas posibilidades de mi persona. Como Isis y Osiris, como Akhenatón y Nefertiti. El sol dando paso a la luna que se marcha con la llegada del sol, en un ciclo interminable que nos une a todo lo que es eterno.
Isis Quintero.
To honestly regard God as the creator and balance in the universe in ways we can only begin to understand, it sort of seems that our need to classify and categorize God as male or female, masculine or feminine as opposed to both and greater than either is a symptom of our misunderstanding and limits to understanding. Nothing puzzles God…though so much puzzles us. How can we impose limits of definition on something so much more than we can comprehend? God is…all the masculine AND feminine power that we see and are…AND every other power that we don’t and are not. God is…creation, destruction, beginning and end, beauty and ugliness, laughter and sorrow…all that is, was, and will be…and more that we cannot quantify or qualify, identify, or recognize…we seem to need simplifications…and that may help us to approximate some basic sense of God’s true nature…but whatever we come up with, we’re missing the mark with a fractional understanding of the whole…which may be the best we can do…can we not be happy with that? God is and I am and we all are because God is…How can we presume to understand more?
Não acredito no lado feminino de Deus. O todo-poderoso não tem sexo, já que este foi criado para reprodução segundo a bíila. Deus é um ser superior, princípio e fim de todas as coisas, isso é irrelevante para ele.
Deus possui as duas faces feminina e masculina e a manifestamos de acordo com a intensidade de amor em nossas ações. Delimitar, esta ação pertence à Mãe e esta ao Pai fica um pouco mistico. Ambos são pertencentes à essencia Divina e são intrinsecos na sua manifestação. Às vezes queremos compreender o que vem do Pai e o que vem da Mãe e avaliamos pela nossa natureza humana de feminino e masculino o que contém um pouco desta essência. Porém, creio que na pura essencia de Deus Pai-Mãe não há delimitação só há manifestação mais intensa de um lado ou de outro. Identificar qual é lado que está sendo manifestado não importa, importa mesmo é a energia amorosa advinda da divindade.
I think God (or Goddess) is gender-free. It is humans who defined God/Goddess as man or woman. Because people like to visualize conceptual and abstract things, people made God look like human. And what we refer to as ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ is also what humans put meaning on.
Dear, bora
I agree with you.
God’s appearance is a ball of Light, the powerful energy is filled with human’s inside.
The powerful energy from Light means “perfection” without darkness.
“Perfection” also is connected with “free will”.
“Free will” contains the ability of YES or NO.
God behaves as God feels. Sometimes, vigor. Sometimes, conpassion. Because circumstance of world keeps on changing.
I believe in the feminine face of God because I have experienced it for myself. I am catholic by birth and that is the religion I follow but spiritualitywise, I believe that each of us have our own quest for truth. My hunger for knowledge led me to realize that I can never know God totally but I can feel his Love. That love that I feel whenever I came across his creation especially on times when I don’t need to think makes me realize that God must be a mother too contrary to what I’ve learned through my collective religion.
I think each one of us a little piece of god, not only humans but all. If we have a half or more population part of women, of course GOD is a reflect of this. As our habits reflects in GOD´s judgement. See how the things and laws were different in the past.
I think I have a problem attributing a female gender into the description of God because then it becomes a battle between male and female and I don’t believe that is how it was meant to be when God was described as Father.
In love, someone who is given more gifts wouldn’t abuse that.
In love, someone who was given less gifts wouldn’t envy.
Siempre he tenido la misma curiosidad que usted presenta en varios de sus libros y decidí indagar a fondo al respecto. Fue muy poco lo que conseguí hasta que cierto día pude finalmente adquirir un libro que me recomendaron llamado “Rome Sweet home” que basicamente narra la historia de una familia protestante y su conversión al catolicismo, y pues como bien sabemos una de las diferencias entre ambas corrientes del cristianismo es LA VIRGEN MARÍA (en el libro narran la lucha que tuvo la esposa precisamente por aceptar este precepto católico)
Ahora bien ¿Cómo es que la iglesia sabiendo que solo se puede alabar a Dios permite el culto mariano? ¿Cómo es que Dios necesitó para encarnarse el vientre de una mujer campesina y poco instruida? pues más o menos lo que explican tiene relación con el tema de discusión del foro: La imagen femenina de Dios… Que sería más bien como la parte humana de ese Dios todopoderoso del que siempre nos hablan.
Siempre por tradición hemos creído que Dios es un hombre que está en los cielos pero lo cierto es que Dios no se puede definir… También resulta interesante como para la iglesia primitiva la representación terrenal de la santísima trinidad(Dios) era la imagen de la sagrada familia de nazareth es decir Padre, Madre e Hijo…
Para poder crear dios necesita tener los dos generos,masculino y femenino
Respeito todas as religiões,mas não entendo até hoje de onde veio a ideia de que o rosto de Deus só pode ser masculino.Em meados de fevereiro do ano passado uma tia minha disse que era um absurdo eu dizer que Deus “tinha duas faces” ela disse que eu estava blasfemando e até hoje ela não fala direito comigo.Cada qual baseia-se naquilo que acredita,muitas pessoas querem “ver” milagres e poucas “acreditam”.Eu acredito que todos nós temos duas faces:feminina & masculina e ambas podem sim,manter o equilibrio e trabalharem juntas sem precedentes de preconceitos buscando manter assim a paz espiritual.
Grata,Paulo Coelho
la dulzura, la comprensión, la armonía, la intución, la imaginación son cualidades que yo asocio a la Diosa, que en el árbol de la Vida se corresponde con la columna derecha.
gracias por compartir
I just have a funny idea,
We always speak about the devil as masculine is a feminine side of Satan?
what u think Tarek ? NO WAY !
:)
Well Tarek…here is a bit of info about the Maya’n Goddess of floods, pregnancy, weaving and perhaps of the moon;
‘Ixchel was an important personage in the Maya pantheon, but apparently more often unfriendly than not. We have already seen her as an angry old woman destroying the world by flood, she is a personification of water as a destroyer, and of floods and cloudbursts. She is usually portrayed surrounded by symbols of death and destruction, a writhing serpent on her head, and crossbones embroidered on her skirt….’ (from Morley & Brainerd The Ancient Maya’
Sounds more like a devil than a goddess, doesn’t it?
The first time I saw the “devil”, it was in the form of a woman..
Many atrocities that have been committed by men are with the approval of women.. Most horrid crimes against children commited by men are supported by women…
In my opinion, the inner strength of women is far more stronger than that of men. So in reality, women could influence the world to stop wars and the killings of the innocents.. Like in the case of the middle east conflict, I am appalled to hear Mothers give their blessing for their young sons and daughters to sacrifice lives by becoming suicide bombers… That conflict started because of the jealousy between Abraham’s wife Sarah and one of his concubine Hagar.. so it shows how evil and destructive women can be…
If women, are more in touch with their inner strength, they would have the power to stop the sufferings of children because they are the ones who carried these children for 9 months…Bond between mother and child is enough to make a woman gather enormous strength to protect her children…Women has the ability to give hear children each a whloe of herself no matter how many children she birth … but they use their “evilness” in a very subtle way .. a lot more dangerous because they have the ability to cover up with their femininety…
I was married to a very emotionally, physically and spiritually abusive and extremely jealous man..He was so jealous of his own sons that he bullied me & the boys for ten years so that our attentions are on him alone..the trheats of commiting suicide 3 to 4 timea a week nearly drove me to insanity..but i had to cling on to my inner strength for the sake of my sons….I spent sleepless nights all those years to make sure that the boys are not hurt while they’re asleep..A woman in that situation could only pray for the signs of the right moment for the madness to come.. to end the suffering of her children… The answers to her prayers are within..She doesn’t need to pray to a male God from up above…Righteousness & unrighteousness are both within..but righteousness must prevail….Being a woman and a mother, the God within will show the right way to protect her children..God does not put together two people in marriage..The two people did..and they too are the only ones who can end it..
One day, my 6 year old son told in front of his prep school class during their ‘show & tell’ that “My dad is so strong like Arnold Swazernegger, he punched a hole on the wall with his head” he boasted about his Dad’s strength.. the teacher called me very worried…But that last episode of domestic violence happened six months before he was told to leave the family home..
I explained to my son that what his father did was not something to be proud..He and his brothers musn’t emulate violence against women and children in their lives..
I said to him, ” Son, I am a far more stronger than Dad, i don’t even have to lift a finger to get him out of our lives for good so that we can live a normal and peaceful life”….
I believe that a woman especially a mother has more strength and more power to either be the instrument of good or evil… Only she can protect her children with her own life…But sadly as i point out the example of conflict in the middle east, started with women and women are the only ones who can undo..They must find that LOVE of God for their children and stand up to the men who send their children to sacrifice lives for their futile cause….
Thanks Tarek for all your thought provoking posts…I enjoyed reading them very much..oxoxo…
Namaste Tarek,
There’s a wonderful movie called Bedazzled which was originally a Peter Cook and Dudley Moore film that was remade with Elizabeth Hurley playing the devil. She was great in the role. :-)
Love to you
No no, in my country we have the saying” He escaped from the devil, but got the mother oh the devil”, means something worse…Like “Jumping from the frying pan into the fire”…lol
Are you playing Devil’s advocate here Tarek?
;D
Maestro, if God has a feminine face he must spend a lot of time time in front of a mirror or building his nails at a cosmetician. And he has more important things to do. :-)
very funny :P LOL
And this again is the use and view of the word “feminine” from the macho-culture that believes that its perception of reality is The Reality.
Beauty in all aspects (not only visual) needs care. And if he has more important things to do, then I am happy that she takes her time…
BTW:
… and the cosmetic industrie has a great new target: men
… and many men take it quite serious to polish their image (mostly to attract women or power or power that then should attract women…)
… actually right now, I stand before my ego and polish my image ;-)
Or maybe the opposite is true,
Women are closer to the beautify of God and so they try to remain beautiful to live their divinity!
Yes, of course, and if God is a man, he must spend a lot of time ogling women’s rear-ends, pumping his muscles up in the gym so he can look macho, making lewd sounds with his mouth and spouting comments like, “Hey, hot mamma, won’t you come here so we can talk?” – I don’t think so; I think God/ess has more important things to do. :-)
Namaste Balauru,
But Narcissus was a man. :-)
Love to you
Precisamos de um Deus ‘palpável’, próximo ao nosso nível de entendimento e por isso o delimitamos: masculino, feminino, vingativo, Deus de amor… Porém não acredito mesmo que nossa mente nossa contê-Lo, até por que nós estamos contidos Nele(a).
Acredito que Deus é essencialmente homem-mulher, afinal ele é a origem dos homens e das mulheres, os quais criou à sua imagem e semelhança. Negar isso é abrir mão de compreender que existe facetas do caráter de Deus que somente teremos conhecimento através de sua manifestação pelas mulheres. Assim como Deus é Pai, também é Mãe. E todo cuidado e amor que recebemos desse Deus, é amor de Pai e de mãe, o tempo todo com mesma intensidade!
Marco Faria
I just go and hug the female side of god that I see as mother and help myself to heal and get nourished and loved. I rejuvenate myself from the pains thrown at me and try to shield myself too.
God, man and woman, and we have a male brain and female brain, specifying, for each hemisphere we have a “polarity” for your support this thesis, the femininity of God, man’s femininity, masculinity of women, because at end we are all one and we are all God, and being one we remember that we are God … Thanks Paulo, for reminding us that great wisdom … a very big hug!
For me, there is no difference between man and woman, when there is god. therefore there is no feminine-face-of-god and god is not a man.
The feminine face of God, I brought up fear, because I believe we look to God when we have fear, when we’re afraid, for protection. I asked an aethist what they thought other aethists did when and if they were in a situation where faith was needed, where we pray for guidance or healing. Most of us are never put into situations where you really have to let go and have faith, trust in a higher power. So the masculine face of God provides the protection, for the most part, culturally we’ve been made to feel that, simply from a physical reality of strength, brute strength. It’s when we marvel at the beauty that we see the feminine face of God, I believe. So if we learn to not assign roles to genders, if we could see God as neither male or female, we could allow each other to become whole human beings, with masculine and feminine traits.
And with faith, trust. I dont know others, but I cant be very open with my father, so for me God is more like a mother, in that respect, but maybe as a father I never had.
I never thought of it that way, Nicolette. That is one very positive aspect of the masculine face of God – God, the Father. Perhaps it does depend much on our cultural background though – which traits we associate with the masculine and which with the feminine.
For me, I associate that role with the Mother – the “Mother protectress,” like a fierce lioness, who will fight and defend her cubs to the death. I think of the Father as the stern enforcer of rules, as well as the one who inflicts punishment when those rules are broken. While I associate “Mother” with closeness and intimacy – a presence that is always there, even if invisible – I associate “Father” with a colder, more distant presence, one who reserves the option to disappear altogether from our lives. I suppose I think of “Mother-Goddess” as one who would never abandon her children, under any circumstances, and who would fight for them under all conditions. On the contrary, I think of “Father-God” as one who, as men sometimes do, walks out on his children when they become too much of a bother or a burden for him. Maybe he’ll return, and maybe he won’t. Maybe he’ll follow thorough on his promises, and maybe he won’t. But Mother-Goddess does not abandon her children, ever, nor are there any lengths to which she will not go or any sacrifices which she will not make in order to protect them and provide for them.
Please, I hope that no one will take offense to this. I am not saying that it IS this way. I am merely pointing out the associations which I personally hold in reference to the archetypal roles of “Mother” and “Father.” Of course these associations carry over and color the way I see the dual aspects of the Divine, masculine and feminine.
Love,
Savita
Dear Hildegarde
Isis is very strong to me too, thank you.
Pandora
[kaltura-widget wid="dp8utf1l40" size="comments" /]
Thank you very much I love Egipt e Isis también.
Beautiful video.
First off, I am a Roman Catholic by birth and a nominal Catholic by choice. There are some things that I believe to be true as taught by my church but I also reserve the right to do my own independent investigation of the truth and to espouse it even when it contradicts the dogma of my religion. For instance, I can agree with the idea of women wanting to become priests. I have no reservations about letting them minister to God’s people.
Secondly, I agree with Paulo that God has both a masculine and feminine aspect as He encompasses everything. However, does this mean that God is both man and woman? My answer is no.
In the Old Testament He created Man before supplying him with a companion, a woman. In the New Testament, he impregnated a woman who gave birth to a son. The action of marrying and reproducing with a female is that of a male and the fact that his offspring was also male signifies what is his primary mode of manifestation. Now all of this could be attributed to Jewish and early Christian societies being patriarchal but I see nothing wrong with God choosing to be male first. It doesn’t mean that men are better or special than women. In the same way Esau was the firstborn but was supplanted by his brother Jacob, the order of creation doesn’t say that one is greater than the other.
Both male and female aspects reside in the Creator but that He is a man first and foremost.
(Then again, I could be wrong.)
When i read this post..i’m reminded of a question: What came first the chicken or the egg?
love,
Laxmi
Dear Paulo
We can behold the feminine Face of God on the face of the women we love! Mother, wife, gilfriend, mate… The Good Eye performs miracles!
Yours, rbrt lpps
Very true, thank you.
Namaste Roberto,
Amen to that. Just as every man… father, lover, friend… is the masculine face of God.
Love to you
God said, “I AM ”
Why Man is he trying to represent God as a man/woman , big/small , white/black , here/there … God is , it is some may hear , but nobody can see … we cannot represent
God is pure love , it is so great essence of energy of love , that the human spirit cannot represent and find words to say
You could just say God is , of this one is safe
And I can also say God is LOVE, since this I am sure
My soul can understand that it is , if great , and my soul may feel the energy for its intense love; but I can only say: “God is” , and it is the whole and it is one
We cannot summarize God to one thing; and it cannot always want to implement a reason reasonning to all!
God is not man , God is , it is looks like you not , you can never describe , we can just try to love: he loves us both
Before God , we are so so so small –and path . God is the all , God is
I never have the words to say , and even if i think !!! Man wants always rationalize …it is human
In the same spirit , I do not know describe the envelope physical of one soul, since it is , but I cannot represent ETC etc
Just the thoughts of my heart , of my soul to you , and not the words human precise –sorry
And do i …
Love
Sido
I agree with Sido. God is love and love is all around even if we see bad things are happening…
who said that compassion and rigor are feminine values? I know many men who share their compassion. Rigor – my first association is army/military, later discipline/order.
for me there are no feminine or masculine values. we all are sensitive, compassioned, disciplined – the only difference is if and how often we show it but i guess this is totally separate theme :)
regards,
Joanna
Estoy totalmente de acuerdo, Sido. “El SER ES”, energía, esencia, libertad, amor.. inconmensurable, inimaginable, solo se experimenta, se vive, pero nunca desde la razón… Todos somos Dios/a, cada uno somos una parte del TODO, y el TODO es en cada una de las partes.
“El hombre en su orgullo creo un Dios a su imágen y semejanza” excelente frase de Nietzche…
Nunca fuimos expulsados de ningún paraíso, no hubo ningún pecado original, ni costilla! (para justificar superioridad, exclusión, dominación, dicriminación, de unos sobre otros…) Nacemos perfectos, hermosos,completos y únicos, somos energía que no se crea ni destruye nunca, nacimos de esa gran explosión de energía – Dios/a – que dió origen al Universo, y somos parte de ese Todo. Nos expresamos de diversas maneras – cuerpos físicos, géneros, razas, etnias, etc – y de acuerdo a nuestro tiempo en el camino de evolución, pero nuestra esencia es la misma. La dualidad es ficticia y nos aleja de experimentar la verdad, que es el Todo : yo me expreso en esta vida como mujer, pero soy un ser completo y entero, una parte y el todo. Dificil ponerlo en palabras, porque se vive, se siente, se vibra, no se razona. A veces leo “la fé es un salto al vacío”… no, al vacío saltan los locos y los desesperados. La fé es un quedarse completamente quieto, hacer silencio y entrar a ese núcleo en donde uno entiende??, experimenta, vibra, recuerda!! que es parte del todo y el todo está en uno.
No hay cara masculina de Dios/a, ni cara femenina, así como no hay una cara negra y otra blanca o mestiza, o cara racional y cara emocional, o cualquier otro item con que tratemos de racionalizar o justificar las dificultades que tenemos para aceptar a otro ser humano como parte nuestra y del todo, para aceptar a otro ser humano como ser bello, perfecto, completo y único, para aceptar que estamos indisolublemente unidos… y que esto no nos “despersonaliza” ni nos diluye, al contrario… es cuando realmente “somos”……
Aclaro que he escrito “Dios/a”, a falta de una palabra nueva… porque, justamente, “Dios” es un nombre masculino, ya desde la palabra estamos errados, sería bueno buscar un nombre que expresara al TODO, no dualidades
Un abrazo
Susana
Namaste Sido66,
What you wrote reminds me of a wonderful book by a rabbi named David A. Cooper, called God is a Verb. I find that an interesting concept. The notion that all that is becoming is God permeates my thoughts a lot when I meditate on the Divine. Then all faces, male, female, hermaphrodite, down to the lowly blade of grass which I step upon could be the face of God.
Love to you
Beautiful thought!..GOD is IT.. ;)…thanks Sido..
oxoxox..
thank Joanna , Susana , Elaine and Hazel
I like this quote “I know that I know nothing , and I know “… I can just witness to the greatness of the love of God ..i tasted the energy pure of divine love , my soul in a tasted the happiness ,and never again will not be such –my body has received the flots intense of divine love , my body felt filled with a pure love and if true , and at the same as i felt as a vase overflowing , beyond to flots since my heart could contain this love …
I would pray that each man should know one day “the experience of the love of God” , and I would ask for me to gain in humility and wisdom, in the faith and love.
God is a , God is all , God is love.
by love of God and by love for people
Sido
Me gusta esta cita “sé que no sé nada , y eso lo sé “… Puedo justa testimoniar la grandeza del amor de Dios ..he disfrutado a la energía puro del amor divino , mi alma ha probado la felicidad ,y más eso nunca será tal …mon cuerpo recibió las olas intensas del amor divino , mi cuerpo se sentía lleno de un amor puro y si cierto , y al mismo tanto me sentía como un vaso Excediéndose , trascienden a flote dado que mi corazón no podía contener este amor …
RUEGO para que cada hombre conozca un día “la experiencia del amor de Dios” , y SOLICITARÉ para mí para ganar en humildad y sabiduría, en la fe y en el amor.
Dios es un , Dios es todo , Dios es amor.
por amor de Dios y por amor a los hombres
Sido
Dear Mr. Coelho,
I believe that everything in this world is god. Sky, Sun, Air, Animals, Humans and so on. Everything on this earth and beyond has male and female part to them. We all carry a piece of god within us (a soul).
Our lessons in life is to balance the god within us, the male and the female. I am always told that I am too girly. It means that I am dominated by the female portion. I have a problem organizing my time or even just balancing a check book. So my lesson in this lifetime to balance my male side which would be focused, disciplined and persistent.
With greatest respect and admiration,
Larisa.
I have noticed that some women here somehow feel inferior to men and are fighting for Women’s Rights. They seem to resent God being referred to as ‘male’ or ‘masculine’.
I believe in fighting for Women’s Rights, especially out here in the Middle East, but this has nothing to do with the way in which I see God. In trying to know God better, I am not fighting for a ‘Cause’, only to get closer to him and to relate to him more sucessfully.
Dear Theresa,
You say that you are trying “only to get closer to (God) and to relate to him more successfully.” Well, what if, for another person, the way that they can get closer to God and relate to God more successfully, is by conceiving of God in the feminine. Is that okay with you? Or would you like to be in control, not only of the way you see God, but the way other people see God too?
I really mean this question in ernest, because, to me, your answer makes all the difference in the world. If you are able to allow others the freedom to perceive and speak of the Divine in whatever terms they deem most conducive to their own personal quest, that is enough. I would not seek to change you views, but only encourage you to give others the freedom to seek out and worship the Divine in whatever form seems most suitable to them.
With Love,
Savita
God is love, love has both and none genders. Love is one as God is.
I am only gratefull God exists in any form so ever.
Besides all of us have both male and female features, we all are created by male and female genes nothing in life is consisted by one part and only, why should it be different in any other aspect of life?
The idea of accepting the female part of God is a personal interprentation of God who i am to judge a person’s approach to divinity?
Somehow i don’t think this is so important compaired to faith, is just another road to go to the same direction.
A face feminina de deus pra mim é a mais importante é o lado mãe é o amor.
Se quiser me fazer uma visita ficaria muito feliz!
beijos
Maybe it’s all about realising that both men and women should be equal, because they are equal in the face of God. For me it doesn’t matter what He/She is, I consider Him/Her as the ultimate parent. Both a father and a mother. A balance. I guess that’s the point of this discussion. It’s more about respect and trust towards God’s face than towards the “neglected” gender (women). But of course also towards women.
God (for me) is one man and woman at a time, God is the creator able to protect and create like a father or mother.
is everything can be everything, He is beyond, but only saw it in Rome? … just saw there?
I guess not, this was his experience and deeper, so the more points
:)
Wow…there are so many points of view shared in this topic..
thank you all..
well, what i would like to add is that Feminine or Masculine, God/Goddess is and always will be unable to be completely comprehended by the humans’ mind, even in its most open-minded version.
This topic made me inquire about the word’s etymology, and although this is not the topic, i would like to share some things which could be food for thought for many of you..
Oddly, the exact history of the word God is unknown. The word God is a relatively new European invention, which was never used in any of the ancient Judaeo-Christian scripture manuscripts that were written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek or Latin. According to the best efforts of linguists and researchers, the root of the present word God is the Sanskrit word hu which means to call upon, invoke, implore
The same happens with the greek “ΘΕΟΣ” that applies for GOD.
The etymology of the word is thought to be uncertain,or unknown ..Some say the root of it is “θέα”= something seen, so the meaning is “the one who sees everything”. Platon, the Greek ancient philosopher supports that the root is the verb “θέειν”, meaning “running in a cycling course”, in an effort to explain the fact that the Sun and the Moon – which were adored as Gods in the past- are entities running cycling courses in the universe.
Some would find correlation with the sanscritic “deva” and the latin “deus”, but no “d” word of latin finds a “θ” word correspondence in greek.
I wonder..is the fact that we humnans cannot surely explain the word’s etymology a random fact? Or is it in accordance with the fact that God cannot be fully comprehended by us, the humans?
As for my opinion on the subject of dear Mr.Coelho, I have always addressed God as an entity..I have never given Him/Her a certain figure..For me, God is everywhere..God just IS..And thank God for that!!
Love to all,
Emi
Thank you Emi. A very clear and wise comment.
LOVE,
Thelma xxx
thank Emi
Love
Sido
God knows why he/she/it never shows his face to anyone. Regardless how it looks like, there were always people who were dissatisfied or disappointed.
At exactly 12:12 a.m. I saw the most beautiful rare yellow bird in my garden, I have taken this as sign, as I was reading The Hymn To Gaia at the time, so I have reproduced in part below:
Gaia
mother of all
foundation of all
the oldest one
I shall sing to Earth
She feeds everying
that is in the world
Whoever you are
whether you live upon her sacred ground
or whether you live along the paths of the sea
you that fly
it is She
who nourishes you
from her treasure-store
Queen of Earth
though you
beautiful children
beautiful harvests
come
The giving of life
and the taking of life
both are yours
Happy is the man you honour
the one who has this
has everything
(Gaia was a pre-hellenic Goddess, the primordial Mother of all creation, who came to being from Chaos)
Do not know why but that poem is very appealing to me … hum … “Happy is the man you honour, the one who has this has everything”. I very much like that. Thanks for sharing … I must confess that this week forum is working in me … Cordially, Jojo.
thankyou for remembering Gaia here!
Gaia for me is the name for Earth…
I never knew of this poem, so it’s lovely to read it. ;o)
Beautiful thank you Pandora!Wishing you a great end of the day in UK,where are you in UK?There is something magical in those lands:England,Wales,Scotland,Ireland,Northen Ireland without forgetting the islands.Can’t wait to go again!I miss it SO much!I had the best time ever regardless of the bad.I will never forget it!the reasons why I know how to speak in english but beyond that,London is just my favorite town,even if it’s a big mess,hectic life,don’t care,Geneva is nothing compared London!sill got a friend in London and now there’s a couple of friends back in Scotland!I definitelty will hit the road when I’ll have the occasion.I didn’t see you on Myspace.Are you there?
Love
Candie
Pandora maravilloso, gracias por compartir y teach mí.
Hi!
According to Hindu mythology knowledge about the feminine aspect of divine is very important in order to know the ultimate truth.Hindus worship Goddess like Kali Durga and Laxmi and Saraswati.They represent a very powerful place in Hindu society.
Kali is one of the many forms of Shakti. Maha Kaali is the fiercest of all goddesses of Hinduism. The word Kali has its roots in the Sanskrit word “Kaal” which means time. And nothing escapes from time. Goddess Kali is sometimes referred as the goddess of death.
So as far as Hindu religion is concerned the feminine face of God is very prominently worshiped.
Durga symbolizes the power of the Supreme Being that maintains moral order and righteousness in the universe. Worship of the goddess Shakti is very popular among the Hindus. Durga stands for the unified symbol of all divine forces (Shaktis).
Lakshmi is the auspicious goddess of wealth and fortune, whether it is material or spiritual. The word ”Lakshmi” has been derived from the Sanskrit word Lakshay, meaning “aim” or ”goal”. Goddess Lakshmi suggests the aim of life, which includes all worldly and spiritual success.
Saraswati Devi is the Goddess of arts, music, knowledge, and wisdom. Saraswati is considered as the divine consort of Lord Brahma, the Creator of the universe in the Hindu Religion.
Very interesting. I knew about Durga. Thank you.
Love
Alexandra
Appreciated. Thank you. Jojo.
Is there some confusion going on?
I can often read about the sex, i.e., physical appearance of god, but I wonder whether “feminine face” means “feminine qualities” of god?
Here some definitions that I found on the web:
***
What is the difference between sex and gender?
the term
Sex = male and female
Gender = masculine and feminine
So in essence:
Sex refers to biological differences.
Gender describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine.
So while your sex as male or female is a biological fact that is the same in any culture, what that sex means in terms of your gender role as a ‘man’ or a ‘woman’ in society can be quite different cross culturally.
***
So, I like to pick up what Johanne said already below:
how do you experience the feminine side of god?
for me, for example, feminine means (also): nurturing, patience, giving space, acceptance.
there are three examples, where I experienced god’s feminine aspect:
a tree full of (red) apples ready for harvest; a friend who just delivered a baby and is just there for his needs; a female stray cat that I could finally catch when she was pregnant with a big belley and who delivered her kittens the next day and cared for them immensely.
How did I recognize it: just as energy that was intense and totally changed the environment (sunny, warm just too simple descriptions), and gave a feeling of beyond.
what is masculine to me:
organized, focus, vigor, for example.
for example, this discussion about the appearance of god as woman & man. I experience it full of masculine energy. and this is not meant in a judgmental way. but there is a strong energy coming over. I think once it was characterized as “anger.” but I don’t think that it was.
- By the way, it can happen when a woman takes on a masculine role, that she will be stereotyped as “being angry”, while a man in such a situation can be perceived in a more positive way (research). –
The three examples I described, however, bring space and quietness.
I think it is interesting to try to look at my view of the feminine aspect of god. Because I can see, I leave the “doctrine” of my culture and am an independent person regarding my perception. Recognizing this and becoming aware of it brings me closer to god.
Now, my feeling is: the parts I recognize in god, these parts I have myself.
Thanks again, all.
Thanks for your hard work that helped me so much in thinking :o)
one last comment:
god man or women. god or goddess?
I have a friend whose god looks like a huge cat.
how much ego-centric thinking comes in?
remember: once mankind thought that everything moves around the earth, and the earth is the center. what problems did mankind have to move away from this image :o) in history?
Thank you so much Katie for sharing. Jojo.
So a goddess would be female but not nescessarily feminine?
Or is a goddess feminine, but not nescessarily female?
Thanks for the definitions – these parts are hard for me in foreign languages?
Bernd
Thank you dearest Hildegarde.
LOVE,
Thelma xxx
Dear Paulo, dear friends,
First of all, thank you very much of the outstanding discussions on this blog it is really a mind enriching experience to go through all these ideas..
I have here a point that I would like to discuss with you..
I am just wondering, and this is my question, what do you feel a female side of God or a Goddess all together will add to your and the world today? I am asking this question because I feel that the question here is much more than gender equality (a male Boss vs. female Boss) or linguistical discrimination against the feminine (which is there and cannot be denied) but at the deeper psychological level there must be a more meaningful reason that is crying to be known.
Love,
Tarek
Hi Tarek,
I just see your comment is coming up on the blog.
It looks to me that your question is related to what I just worked on :o)
I like to tell you my experience related to what I wrote.
my masculine side makes me a strong worker, working very rationally – with my mind and in an abstract way.
I always need to work on my feminine part that gets overrun :o) so easily because the masculine is also speedy.
Working through my 3 examples, makes me aware of “how feminine energy is perceived by me.” this helps me in situations to remember when I know that also my masculine part is needed and can overrun my life (my masculine part gives me a lot of energy to work and work … it is my feminine part that stops me from working myself “to death.”
I think that it is the masculine energy that initiates war. the feminine energy could not do it – it is nurturing, creating life.
the acknowledgment of feminine energy in each of us may bring up another philosophy of life in our society.
yes tarek !
that deeper meaning may be that all of us need to accept our strengths and weaknesses too. for long feminity has been asscoaited with weakness, in western world dominated by christian releigion. but then everyone finds that they have some feminine qualities like say shedding tears on seeing someone in pain. once a part of you is renounced and worse still, when u are made to renounce a part of you, you become divided, no more an individual, now there is a fight within you, you want to suppreesss the femine qualities and enhance your masculinity, you want to forget compassion, you want to focus on conquests.
in hinduism there have been goddesses but plight of woman is not much better than in other cultures ( execpt for highly cultured households, how cultured one is can be gauged by one’s attitude towards woman ). it’s time when feminine aspects of god is widely known. this way people will be at less conflcict within themselves, there will be acceptance of oneself as one is, and the mad rat race to be someting other than what we are can see some respite.
your question set me thinking and these words formed.
love
aditya
Dear Tarek
I will try to bring an answer that pertains to what it does for me to know feminine and masculine in God. I see it like a projection of myself. I do not have any difficulties to see the masculine side of me (forces that are recognized in our society and that pertains to power, solidity, leadership, etc …) but I have difficulty in my life to recognize the feminine side of me (because for me those are not high spoken about, recognized weak in a way in my society, culture, family). I have personal difficulty to let myself be in that aspect, and that has an impact on my relation with men but most of all with myself. So, if I make that exercise of seeing the feminine in God, I am doing the exercise of seeing the feminine side in me and value it (I am living that experience now). I saw that at first I said God is a Whole, even that I was more than a woman, but realized how it was hard for me to see the feminine. So, that form of discussion helps me in that sense. And then, what is harmony? Balance, union of both, collaboration (“It is not good that Adam be alone, let’s make him a companion, a partner”). Without the recognizance and acceptance from me of both in my life no harmony, no balance. So, for now, that is what I can answer to your questioning. With affection, Jojo.
Dear friends, thank you very much for sharing your thoughts.
Very interesting points are raised in each of your posts.
It seems to me that the common point in all answers to my question, if I am right, is that we are searching of lost feminine side in us more than the lost feminine God. At the end, I believe, we create our lord(s) in the way we believe they are. And yes the suppressed feminine side that is a part of our wholeness is now yearning to come to light. A female friend of mine told me “it looks that women in our time are almost able to be whatever they want except being feminine” true! so just imagine the situation for men.
I guess when each if us will try liberate his/her femininity we’ll move a step closer toward understanding the wholeness undivided totality of God..
Love,
Tarek
I Agree.
My Teacher, a Professor of Graphology and a monk , said that in God we find both faces, a masculine and a feminine,cause he/she is the origin of everything, so he/she has inside all the things we see or imagine.
This happened 15 years ago.
Now, I can say that as You, Paulo, I had my Pilgrimage to Rome in Urbino, cause I learned the same things that you learned.
I can also say that when the Truth comes out, it’s the same all over the world and beyon all times.
Thank you for sharing.
Love.
Christina
dear Christina,
thank you for sharing your story. so inspiring.
for me, god had only male side until i read Paulo’s book. i thought what a strange story. but realized why god had to be only male?
so since then i started to think and feel, at the same time, female side of god. the moon, the water, the flowers, the birds, and the sunset. then i realized i associate goddess something with beautiful and mysterious, in general. and thought myself what a stereotype person i am. is it kind of naive to think like that? i suppose this is not what you experienced in Urbino…right?
if you do not mind, maybe you could tell me more about what really happened…i would be very appreciate for sharing your story…
and i agree that when the truth comes out, it is the same all over the world and beyond all times.
thank you again.
blessing!
chieko
Hi Hildegarde, nice to see you. I loved your saying we are as children, I feel the same, and thays why I trust GOd, for is as a parent, who wish only the best for the kid… And yes, that leads us to the idea we are part of our parents, no kid is only part of his father, or only part of his mother. And if we take it in another way,we are all part of the Universe, Universe contains everything, so we part of God too, with every feminine quality in it, besides all the rest. Hope it makes sense.
Thank you
Love
Alexandra
” The Feminine Face of God.”
We are all unique and have our own personal image of God and relate to him in our own special way. This is usually based on our spiritual experience and religious beliefs and traditions.
As humans, we communicate with each other through language of one sort or another. Unfortunately, language is often flawed and inadequate. We realise this when we try to translate from one language to another, or try to say some special words to someone we love. Often words fail us!
When talking about God we are obliged to use human language. In Islam, they use the word “Allah” meaning the One True God. This term has no plural or gender, whereas in English we can say He/She, God/Goddess, Gods/Godesses.
I am a Catholic and have always seen God as a Spiritual Being and Creator of the Universe. In my eyes, he has no gender and is perfect and complete in every way. He has all the male and female attributes which we know of. He is loving, compassionate, generous, paternal/maternal, patient, kind, tender etc., all in HARMONY with one another in ONE Being.
There is evidence of this mixture of male and female attributes in humans. One only needs to see how a single parent can often be a father/mother at the same time and I think that this may also be evident in homosexual relationships. Maybe also, God has other attributes of which we know nothing. For example, there could be creatures living on other planets who have a different mindset to us. He is their God also!
I’m sorry to disappoint some of you, but I don’t really like the expression God/Goddess. It makes me think of a Fairy Tale Cartoon :- “The God and Goddess of….”, sitting on a throne, high above the clouds, wearing golden crowns, encrusted with precious jewels. They are reigning above us all !!!
Anyway, it doesn’t really matter how we imagine or describe God. The essential is that we relate to him in our own unique way and open our hearts to his love and protection.
Hi,
According to me ,differentiation of god in to masculine or feminine is incorrect. God has no proper form or shape or gender its only we humans who have created all this because of the demand of religions existing in the society. God can be only felt and can be only seen or observed by our good deeds and the extent of belief upon him. And in order to know about him we have only option that is to keep praying until he answers to us.
Dear mother Theresa :)
Well, as a Catholic you once also wished ‘In Sha Allah, leave it to the Muslim God… and I smiled when you did. Because it means we are in dialogue with each other and we are open, and we just have to respect all the diverse beliefs from wonderful people all over the world.
I’m sorry you don’t like the expression ‘Goddess’ as to me my first thought is the Greek Goddesses, dressed in long cotton fabric robes and decorated with ornamental gold, absolutely gorgeous, feminine and gentle, amusing their husbands and children. Such a lovely image for me. So, don’t forget to keep that little heart of yours open to all dimensions, my own dear mother Theresa :)
Love,
heart
xxx
Dios=ser ilimitado. no tiene genero pues es todo.
nosotros somos parte del ser ilimitado pero dentro de un cuerpo limitado y por eso los generos.
mi pensar.
salu2!!!
For me, God is a man, a woman, both of them at the same time and none of them.
In my opinion, God is unapprehensible, impossible to understand and “reach”.
However, we are “equipped” by Him/Her/It to receive His/Her/Its messages and act or reply. We have heart, brain and, perhaps soul. The choice to use them is ours.
But yes, Mr Coelho is right: God is a man, because of the man-dominated society. Many-many years ago, people worshipped Mother Nature or the Female Goddess or whatever.
But God, probably, is beyond all these…
← Previous Comments
Next Comments →