#lady wisdom

[fierysword]

Medieval depiction of church fathers suckling at the breasts of Sophia/Sapientia (Lady Wisdom). Image source: The Great Mother, Erich Neumann.

[idylls-of-the-divine-romance]

"The Hellenistic influence on John" this and "the Hellenistic influence on John" that. What about the Jewish influence on the Gospel of John??? What about the fact that John 1 describes Jesus with references to Lady Wisdom? What about the same chapter describing Jesus as both the Tabernacle and the Light that fills it? What about Jesus as a "Greater than Moses" who turns water into wine instead of blood? What about Jesus entering into the temple on Hanukkah and declaring himself to be the light of the world, as well as claiming to be God made maniphest? What about the constant harkening back to Jesus being Yahweh, the God of the Jews?

We cannot erase/be ignorant of the Jewish influence of the Scriptures and then be shocked when people complain of antisemitism

[rhosyn-o-magdalene]

How does Sophia appear to you? Like, her appearance

She doesn't really have one because She is kinda the primordial Divine Feminine for me, but if I had to try to describe Her it's like attempting to look into the sun. Sometimes there is a shape that is somewhat birdlike but not a dove, more like "The Speaker of God" from Hazbin Hotel.

[bijoumikhawal]

Lady Wisdom, Chokhmah. Inspired by her description in Proverbs, a brief discussion in the Hebrew Priestess, and the song Crossroads by Taya Ma

Proverbs 3:13-18; Happy is the man that findeth Wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding/For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold./She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her./Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour/Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace/She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.

Proverbs 8:1-3; Will not wisdom call out, and understanding give forth its voice?/At the top of the heights upon the road; at the crossroads she stands./Beside the gates, at the entrance of the roof, at the entrance of the portals she cries

Proverbs 8:22-23; The Lord acquired me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old./From the distant past I was enthroned, from the beginning, of those that preceded the earth.

Proverbs 9:1-5; Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars/She has prepared her meat; she has mingled her wine; she has even set her table./She has sent her maidens, she calls on the wings of the heights of the city,/Whoever is simple, let him turn in here. To the one devoid of sense, she says to him,/Come, partake of my bread and drink of the wine I have mingled.

I interpreted the pillars as trees because a similar thing happens elsewhere in scripture, and there's mention of the fruits/produce of Wisdom, as well as Chokhmah being identified with the Tree of Life

The snake is here because of its connection to the Tree of Knowledge, which obviously goes alongside Wisdom. The Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge are also mentioned in relation and contrast to each other in Genesis

All the trees (olive, sycamore-fig, pomegranate, quince, carob, almond, date palm) are important in Judaism and bear edible produce. Some scholars believe mentions often translated as "apple" are actually quinces, and quinces enjoy decent popularity in Jewish cuisines. Sycamore-figs aren't common in the US, but they are mentioned in scripture and have been a tree of life in Ancient Egypt and modern Egyptian folklore.

[quotesfromscripture]

Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold fast will be blessed.

Proverbs 3:17-18 NIV (2011)

[childofmaryy]

Wisdom praises herself,

and tells of her glory in the midst of her people.

In the assembly of the Most High she opens her mouth,

and in the presence of his hosts she tells of her glory:

I came forth from the mouth of the Most High,

and covered the earth like a mist.

I dwelt in the highest heavens,

and my throne was in a pillar of cloud.

Alone I compassed the vault of heaven

and traversed the depths of the abyss.

Over waves of the sea, over all the earth,

and over every people and nation I have held sway.

— Ecclesiasticus 24:1-7

[guiltywisdom]

Rolling into ur inbox to ask a Question,, a long while ago i saw you mention something about a wife of God in relation to Sophia (Lady wisdom) and though i cant remember what you said, i was wondering if you got any opinions on Sophia, goddess cults around the nt times, old views of God having a wife, etc. Im v curious abt this area rn.. - c

OKAYYYYYYY. Let’s do this!

Depending on your sources there are many interpretations of “Lady Wisdom” and the female aspect of the Godhead and there have been since the start. 

Let’s first go back to religion of the Canaanites. Canaanites were polytheistic (worshiped many gods) but sometimes monolatristic (believed in many gods but only worshiped one). They had a TON of deities but at the top of the hierarchy was El and Asherah (Think Zeus and his wife Hera). Now if you know your Bible you’ll know that one of the names of (capital G) God is Elohim which is a word originally, in it’s plural form, meaning "gods." The goddess Asherah was the consort of El (a singular word meaning "god"), who was the supreme god of Canaan and father of the popular Baal; you’ll also know Baal as the bad guy in the Bible. Asherah is the name of a female deity but when appearing as “ha asherah” it means “the asherah” and is referring to a sacred pole, an idol. The Hebrews were told to tear these things down remember? 

So you may be asking, what has this got to do with Lady Wisdom? Well. El had a consort, a wife and the name of God is also El, Elohim. It is likely that the ancient Hebrews were monolatristic and believed in many Gods but thought that they were called to worship only one God; throughout the Old Testament it is pretty clear that the Hebrews are told to tear down the Idols of Baal and other such gods not because they are demonic or that they are simply not a real god but because they are not the “correct” God, their God. 

Remnants of these monolatristic beliefs are mostly left in Genesis. 

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26 NRSV)

Here plurals are used. God speaks as though there are other gods around Him at the time, He uses words like “us” and “our”. 

Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” (Genesis 3:22 NRSV)

God says that man has become “like one of us”; God is speaking like there is more than one god. To the ancient Hebrews this wouldn’t be that shocking. YHWH was the “one true God” the “best God” but that didn’t mean he was the only one. YHWH made everything, he was the creator of all, he could have also created other gods, it wasn’t that strange to the Hebrews as a concept. Ancient views on gods were also more personal, gods were more like humans and had human-like issues; affairs, arguments, fights, they fell in love, had children and also died so of course the idea of a god having a wife wasn’t that strange either, in fact it was almost impossible to imagine them not having a wife. When the Hebrews began to further adopt a monotheistic view of God features of Baal, El, and Asherah were absorbed into YHWH, thus they became one single God and His “wife” was lost.

In Proverbs 8:22-36 we hear “Wisdom” speak. It is a female character who seems to have been around since Creation but was only a witness to it and not an active participant. Wisdom reminds us that she was “rejoicing before him always” when He was creating the Earth and refers to the listener as her “children”. Many people believe this character is Jesus, the Gnostics believing that God was both male and female might give credence to that theory...you know, if you were Gnostic. Cultures have typically believed in the duality of gender; black and white, night and day, male and female and so did the Christian Gnostics. In the Gospel of Thomas and in the Gospel to the Hebrews, Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as his Mother and in the Apocrypha of John Jesus describes the Trinity as Father, Mother and Son. Here the Holy Spirit is seen as the female aspect of the Godhead. I personally think the “Wisdom” here is the Holy Spirit, the female aspect of the Godhead and not Jesus (not everything has to be a prophesy of Jesus!). 

So let’s go back to Genesis, it is possible that when God is referring to plurals he is referring to the Son and the Holy Spirit. Lady Wisdom, the Holy Spirit, is by his side as he creates the Earth (as well as His Son). 

^That’s my summary. As you can tell this is rather disjointed, if you have any specific questions I could answer those as well and it might make more coherent sense. I adore history and I make sure never to let my presuppositions get in the way of learning something new so that is why I brought up the Canaanites. I don’t believe in other gods but knowing that the ancient Israelites did doesn’t change anything for me. Also remember to examine the Gnostics with a very large magnifying glass. 

[mydevotionstodea-blog]

Feast of Jana Madria Sage 1st Astrea / November 28th Salvation has come to us; from thee is salvation. Thou art wisdom, thou knowledge; thou art truthfulness. On account of thee is life; from thee …