P a n t h e a   :   A l l   T h i n g s   a r e   G o d d e s s

I was recently asked to do a short interview on the way women experience Christianity. A few months ago I did an interview (a 5-part piece) with Susy from Unmasking the Goddess who passed on my info to author Jonalyn Grace Fincher. Jonalyn was interesting in knowing how I experienced Christianity as a woman and I suppose also as someone who no longer subscribes to the beliefs of the church. I've pasted my responses below. Please feel free to leave comments and get a conversation started.

1- From your experience does Christianity seem to teach that God is male, female, both or neither? What caused you to think this?

A: I believe Christianity teaches that God is male. There is much emphasis placed on concepts like God the Father, Christ the Son, etc. but there have been no concepts surrounding God the Mother until recently. From what I gather that is very commonly not a popular concept with many Christians.

Mary is a positive figure, as the Mother of Christ (God), but she is never deified. Instead she is commonly believed to have been a mortal woman with no divinity of her own. At best she is seen as a saint and her worship is often only found in some denominations. Goddess worshippers believe Mary to be a face of the Goddess.

2- How is following the Goddess more affirming to you than following God?

A: There is a common misconception that all women migrate to Goddess worship because they are not empowered by a male concept of God. I would say in the beginning that this is true for some. Personally I never felt as though I needed empowerment. Instead I saw a concept of God that was more complete for me than a male concept. In short, Goddess makes more sense to me.

I do find the Goddess more affirming but not because I’m a woman. I personally feel she is more affirming for people as a whole. She is a being of balance and completion who teaches equality for all life. Her lessons also encourage her followers to understand that their personal experiences are valid and that those experiences can be a way of connecting with her. No one is told their interpretations of the Goddess are wrong or unworthy. Spirituality is seen as such an individual concept and not everyone requires the same lessons.

3- Does the Christian church seem oppressive to women? If so, can you share any stories?

A: I think at times it can be. Again here, I see that the church can be oppressive to people in general and not just women; teaching them that they are naturally evil and that they need to earn God’s love. I do however find that the lack of female clergy in Christianity is a problem and a testament to the way women have been seen throughout time as vehicles of temptation and evil.

4- What passages/places in the Bible seem to limit women? Are there any Bible passages that seem to value women equally to men?

A: I have pasted a few passages below that paint a less than flattering picture of the way the Bible speaks of women. I realize that during Jesus’ ministry he taught gender equality. He took women into his inner circle, spoke with them as equals (as God’s daughters), and used terminology that implied that women should be seen as no less and no better than men. Unfortunately though, his words are not as direct and to the point as those of the Old Testament. I suppose it would’ve been nice if he had just come out and said it in plain language. I also think it would’ve been nice to see Mary Magdalene given the role of one of Christianity’s founders as she so deserved in my opinion.

1 Corinthians 14:34:
Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.

Genesis 3:16:
To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

Isaiah 19:16:
In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them.

Deuteronomy 22:20-21:
If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the girl's virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father's house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done a disgraceful thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father's house. You must purge the evil from among you.

Leviticus 12:1-8:
Numbers 5:12-31

Labels: christianity, interview, jonalyn grace fincher, women and christianity

I have been invited to have a conversation with Susy of Unmasking the Goddess about my personal "faith journey" and my experiences with the Goddess. The entire conversation should eventually be compiled and posted to her blog. Below is the first part of the dialogue - or what began as a dialogue. It has ended up more like an interview, but that format seems less confusing for readers to follow.

Susy: Thanks for inviting me to start. I guess I'd like to begin just knowing more about you and your "faith journey," as we call it in the church. Can you share your spiritual story? What is your background? Where and when did you start on your current spiritual path? What drew you to your current beliefs and practices? And where do you hope to go with it in the future?

Grian: Firstly, this is a great question and a great place to start - at what I guess would be considered the beginning.

I was raised by a single mother and for the first years of my life we lived with my grandfather. My spiritual story begins with him.

My grandfather was a devout Christian and every night as I lay in bed I heard him talking to God in the next room. He would literally kneel at his bedside and pray out loud in a dialogue with God. From this practice of my grandfather’s I learned about unabashed faith. He was never ashamed that the other people in our house could hear him praying, he only knew that it was important to connect with God in prayer. I consider this one of the most important spiritual lessons of my life.

My mother was not a church-goer. Though my grandmother had made sure I was baptized Methodist, my mother had always told me that we didn’t need to go to church to believe in God. I think she always felt there was a lot of hypocrisy going on within the walls of churches. She grew to believe this through personal experiences, but she has never really told me the details of those experiences. My mother would later realize that her beliefs were best described as Agnostic. I believe this is an accurate label since she always taught me that there was a God (something bigger than me that created the universe) but we were not a specific denomination in any way.

When I was a child I always had a strong belief in God. I prayed very often in my head throughout the day and before sleep as a regular practice. Though my faith was strong, I was also always afraid that I was doing something wrong that would get me sent to Hell. I was often terrified of the Devil and the whole idea of damnation.

As a teenager I began having recurring dreams about Jesus. They were good dreams and I would describe them as almost casual. Jesus and I would be walking down the streets of my small hometown and he would be dressed in jeans, a white t-shirt, and a pair of sandals. I still remember it very clearly. He would put his arm around my shoulders and say “Now, don’t tell anyone I’m Jesus. I’m here for you right now and I want to give you my full attention.” Then we would just talk about whatever I needed to talk about. Jesus would listen like a great friend and then walk me home.

I was 17 years old when the Goddess came into my life. I had always been intrigued by things of a spiritual or otherworldly nature and I believed there was so much more to know that my spiritual upbringing had not given me. So when a friend introduced me to the concept of Wicca, I began soaking up all the knowledge I could get my hands on. I didn’t consider myself Wiccan – and still don’t – but I wanted to learn all that I could about the ideas surrounding it.

At first, it was almost all about the idea of magic and the unknown. It was exciting and I suddenly felt like I was beginning to connect with something bigger – with the pieces I had always sensed were missing. Basically, I learned that I too could be a mystic; that I could connect with God on a personal level without the need for an intermediary such as a pastor or priest. I realize now that my grandfather and my mother were pivotal in helping me realize this.

When I was 19 I moved to Germany to live with my new husband who was in the military. Yes, I was married very young, but I believe this also helped me come to my spirituality more quickly than most. Instead of dating and being absorbed in the search for love throughout early adulthood, I was able to find comfort in my relationship so that my own interests could be explored.

My interest in Wicca had continued through this time, though I had become tired of the idea of spells and such. I felt it was just a little too silly for me. I can hear all the Wiccans being upset with me about that one, so I promise to make my position on that more clear at another time.

Anyway, I was searching for something more. I knew of the Goddess and had learned about her various aspects and faces through mythology, but I had yet to connect with her on that deeper spiritual level. Then one day, while walking in the woods behind our apartment building, I felt her there with me. As I bent down to admire the wild Lily of the Valley, I suddenly felt that I was not alone and never had been – that I was connected to all things and all things were one. Within nature I began to see the Goddess everywhere and in seeing her I began to truly see myself.

I hope I have answered your questions. I could continue on about why I choose Goddess religion and how I came to be who I am spiritually today for many more pages. But my story covers 13 years of education and discovery, so perhaps those things can be touched on in a later post.

Labels: conversations on faith, interview, Unmasking the Goddess