Greek Goddess Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom
Spirituality in mature women
Spirituality and Return to it's roots
Holy spirit of the Trinity
Holy Wisdom of Hagia Sophia
Sophia usually appears as:
at Her feet lies the World
She is also often shown wearing a red gown
In Western (Latin) tradition, she appears as a crowned virginIn Russian Orthodox tradition, she has a more supernatural aspect of a crowned woman with wings in a glowing red color.
righteous, wise, loving, communicative, knowledgeable, creative, protective, giving, and truthful.
Colors associated with Sophia:
Red (some say also pink) symbolizing the Rose
Radiant White White symbolizing the Dove
referred to as wisdom in the Bible
Referred to as Fallen Angel
HOLY DAYS: November 28th is the Day of Sophia.
Yahway - AKA God - some believe she is God's wife
Adam, Eve, Lilith, - Most know the story of Adam and Eve but Lilith is believed to be Adams first wife.
Angels (children) - considered to be Children of God,
Jesus Christ (step-son) - Virgin Mary was Jesus' mother making Sophia his step-mom by default, since God is Jesus Father.
Definition of Yahway: The meaning of the name `Yahweh' has been interpreted as “He Who Makes That Which Has Been Made” or “He Brings into Existence Whatever Exists”, though other interpretations have been offered by many scholars.
Sophia's identity is hidden in the Old Testament by references to her in the lower case word “wisdom.”She was a part of the Judeo-Christian heritage of the west, but forgotten within a monotheistic, patriarchal religion that denies feminine divinity.
Hagia Sophia is the lovely, domed church in Constantinople which made her name familiar. This church was built to honor the divine mother in the sixth century CE by Eastern Christians. Roman Christians claim it was dedicated to a minor virgin martyr, Saint Sophia, rather than in honor of any Divine
Feminine.Hagia means “holy” in Greek, and was once a title of respect for wise and protected older women, but sadly the meaning has been bastardized so these wise women are referred to as “hags”.
Sophia’s archetype of wisdom causes a pressing need to find meaning and reconcile one’s beliefs through gnosis. When women are on a spiritual quest, they are finding and developing their “inner” Sophia wisdom. Since solitude is usually the developmental ground for contemplation, prayer, and meditation, a conflict may arise between the needs of relationships in the secular world, and the needs for the time for inspired religious study.
the Dove of Aphrodite, which later became the dove representing the Holy Spirit
Rose - Sophia, as spiritual whole, forms earth and heaven. Represented in visual form as a flower -- like the scent of a blossom, her spirit always remains attached to the earthly foundation of reality. Her luminous aspect overcomes darkness. In Dante's poem, she is the sacred white rose belonging to the Madonna, the ultimate flower of light revealed above the starry night sky.
World disc - She gathers the arts around her, teaches the philosophers, inspires the poets. She bears the world disc, the zodiac, planets, sun and moon.
Chalice - She represents the cup of the Last Supper, the mythical Holy Grail, baptism, the return to the Mother -- the spring of life
Apple - that Sophia offers is the fruit of the Tree of Wisdom instead of Eve's apple from the Tree of Knowledge. The Tree of Sophia (Wisdom) is identical to the Tree of Life, for it is known that "She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her." (Proverbs 3: 18) The apple from this tree contains Sophia's five seeds of wisdom, and she instructs one to eat these seeds, thus taking her wisdom within and assimilating it in one's deepest being. This is an organic process by which wisdom is the fruit which grows from a "new perception." As we are instructed to "Acquire Sophia, acquire perception" (Proverbs 4: 5), it is apparent that Sophia (Wisdom) is identified with perception. This "new perception" that Sophia brings is precisely the wholeness of her apple which integrates the dichotomies of existence. It is the perception of the interconnectedness of all life and the wisdom that comes from that awareness; it is the perception of creation as a blessing and the joy that comes from that recognition. Eating the seeds of the apple of wisdom leads to an "ecosophianic perspective of nature"(6) as we recognize Sophia's presence in all things. Truly it is the apple of joyful wisdom that she blesses us with!
Serpent - tempted Eve, and has subsequently become a symbol of evil, is transformed by Sophia into the serpent of feminine power and wisdom.
The two serpents, one light and one dark, which entwine around the staff are symbols of Sophia. Thus she connects us with an earlier time in human history when the serpent as a primal symbol of the Divine Feminine was honored for its wisdom of the Earth and its power of healing and immortality. As the patriarchal world view gained dominance, this ancient symbol of the Goddess became hated and feared and its true meaning was banished along with the Divine Feminine. Sophia's call to us today is to reclaim the Feminine in all of her aspects from the patriarchal world view, and to once again honor the wisdom of the Earth and the wisdom of the body as symbolized by the serpent.
The serpent and staff also symbolize the process of transformative growth which cannot be understood by rational thought. As Erich Neumann says, "This phenomenon dominates the symbolism of the 'fall from grace' that leads to consciousness…" While the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents the staff with its one serpent, the Tree of Life is often depicted with two serpents. Thus Sophia's tree, like the serpent staff with its two entwining snakes, symbolizes the uniting of the opposites in a balanced equilibrium. As the serpents on the staff metamorphose into two circulating bands of light and dark energy, so the transformation of consciousness takes place through Sophia's wisdom. The fertility of the Goddess which is also symbolized by entwining snakes results from this transformation. Today this "fertility" may be viewed as the transformative creative power which must emerge in order to bring healing to our world.
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