As a Westerner, having been brought up in the UK as a Church of England Christian, I believe that one of my fundamental problems, and limiting beliefs, has been the exclusion of the sacred femininity in my religious beliefs since childhood.
I was simply taught throughout, that God is a man, and to this day, I talk to God as a man.
God is our Father who art in heaven.
The Catholic Religion has the Holy Mary to worship with the virgin birth, on the one hand, but it also has Mary Magdalene the prostitute, on the other.
I am convinced that some organised religions decided to remove the female component from the fountainhead of God for political power reasons. I was told that the original Lords Prayer, translated from the Aramaic language at the time of Christ, was:
Our Father who art in Heaven
Our Mother who art on Earth……
Whatever happened to the second line?
The Father / Mother principle, the Yin and Yang, the Shakti / Shiva, the God and Goddess of Love and Wisdom, make so much more balanced and complete sense to me. Intuitively, it has to be right!
But, as I said earlier, I missed the female component in my religious upbringing and I think that has caused me problems.
To me, God is One and All. The Creative Intelligence, the Loving Wisdom, whatever words you choose to use, must have the male and female components to complete the fullness of the creation of life. I also feel that it is not just man and woman characteristics but the male and female aspects of all beings!
This is why I find the Hindu religion and the Vedas so appealing. Even Buddhism has archetypal male and female Buddha’s for us to consider and meditate upon, depending on our needs.
While contemplating more deeply, or facing a particular problem or crisis in my life, I immediately find comfort when thinking about my late mother and father, and what they both might have said or done. But I need both before I can get a full perspective.
I guess psychoanalysts might say I have a mother complex, but really, I simply think that my religious upbringing, from a child, has been unbalanced. I wonder if the UK Church of England realises this imbalance too.
Once I thought that it was only men who could become enlightened and that women provided the role of guardian angels? Well, I certainly don’t think that now!
I must try harder to talk to God as male / female, mother / father, left and right, yin and yang, positive and negative – all together as One and All.
Then, and only then, can we truly be in Oneness.
Ron Young
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