This blog forms part of a series examining how different faith traditions embrace or reject the Divine Feminine in their teachings and representation of The Divine.
In part one, I reflect upon my own very masculine spiritual journey across Abrahamic traditions.
I look back at my childhood as a Christian and my conversion to Islam in my early 20s. I also discuss my interfaith exploration of the Jewish and Christian world as a post-Orthodox Liberal Muslim.
In part two, I explore how the Divine Feminine is viewed across the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam).
In part three, I look at the representation of God and the Divine Feminine amongst the Dharmic faiths (Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism).
In this blog, I highlight why the inclusion of the Divine Feminine is critically important, not simply in promoting spiritual inclusion, but embracing wider gender equality in sacred and secular spaces.
Examining how and if the Divine Feminine is represented or excluded across the Abrahamic and Dharmic faiths has been an interesting journey.
From across the Abrahamic faiths to the Dharmic sacred traditions, representations of the Divine Feminine are varied.
With my spiritual journey firmly rooted in Abrahamic tradition, I already knew of the shared struggle across Jewish and Muslim communities.
Some women chose to embrace more feminine language, others did not.
Likewise in Christianity, more varied practices outside of my childhood view in my own Anglican tradition do in fact allow believers to embrace the Divine Feminine (e.g. through the Virgin Mary) to counteract more prevalent male-centric portrayals of the Divine.
There’s a strong patriarchal thread, but more nuance and a feminist revival for those who wish to embrace a more feminine lens.
However, when looking at the Dharmic traditions, I found a different reality.
Without a doubt patriarchy exists in all of these communities (Dharmic or Abrahamic) in the socio-cultural context outside of religious expressions of the Divine.
However, theologically, I discovered a more gender fluid world where an apparent male-female binary allowed for a more balanced view of the Divine – especially in Hinduism and Buddhism.
Firstly, my experience of the Dharmic world has been one of much more fluidity and exchange overall amongst different faith traditions – which affects the presence of gender.
An example is how Sikhism adopts goddesses from Hinduism.
In the Abrahamic world, whilst worshippers are free to explore and adopt other practices, the overarching theological tradition is much less pluralistic – demarcating lines of belief and non-belief.
Secondly, in Dharmic tradition, theologically, the patriarchy is not so explicit.
It appears to focus more on negative rather than non-existent portrayals of the Feminine Divine – as discussed regarding Buddhist tradition.
Thirdly, there’s the relationship between theology and gender rights outside of religious spaces.
In the case of Hinduism for example, positive representations of the Divine Feminine are abound. Representation in quantity and quality (positive associations) isn’t an issue.
Yet, as with all of the faith traditions, the way the patriarchy manifests instead lies outside of the theology, where the socio-cultural reality of women’s lives may differ vastly from the embraced Goddesses of the faith.
Fighting patriarchy and the fight for women’s rights is indeed a universal struggle outside of the mosque, church, gurdwara – wherever it may be.
But here’s the interesting discovery: inside these sacred sites, theology and spaces, it’s not a universal like-for-like struggle.
What’s more, in terms of specific representation of the Divine Feminine and Masculine in the Abrahamic and Dharmic world, we also see a difference between linguistic and visual imagery.
In the Western world and Abrahamic traditions (originally Middle Eastern), language is critical. It’s fundamentally a representation of our views and beliefs.
In this context, language is very gendered and therefore requires a linguistic solution.
This is especially true in faiths where imagery is typically not used to portray the Divine (for example in Islam and Judaism).
However, in the Dharmic world – where imagery is very much prevalent – the feminine is typically more included. Perhaps language is less important in this context?
And here, we’re led to the case of Sikhism where we encounter an interesting mix.
Sikhism appears to sit between the two worlds – embracing the Feminine Divine of Hinduism, yet mirroring Islamic practice of masculine language in scripture (and all-male gurus).
Judaism and Islam talk of a genderless God, often through masculine language. And so, there is a growing movement to embrace the Divine Feminine.
Christianity, whilst embracing both male and female figures, is explicitly masculine in language. The fact is that: Jesus is of course undoubtedly masculine.
Journeying across the faiths, I more than ever still strongly affirm my own reality: in the Abrahamic context (despite disagreements from Jewish and Muslim women alike), as a linguist I firmly believe that in this context language is critical.
For this, we need to actively embrace the Feminine Divine.
Genderless or not, male-centric interpretations leave their mark on the practice of faith and additionally in the community outside of theology (where Dharmic traditions meet the universal problem of patriarchy).
In a world where language (not imagery) is foundational to our expression of the Divine, in a binary-led world, excluding the Divine Feminism is an expression of religious patriarchy which leaves its mark.
Denial of the Divine Feminine: patriarchy in practice
Religious patriarchy doesn’t just exclude the divine feminine in its worship – it also excludes women through their teachings and practices.
And it doesn’t stop there. This inequality also relates to a wider problem of social, economic, cultural, financial and political gender inequality worldwide.
Why? Because inclusion matters.
Representation speaks. Positive portrayals share, value and celebrate. Whilst exclusionary or negative portrayals devalue, deny and ignore.
Including the Divine Feminine matters. Because it’s about more than words or images.
And it’s refreshing to see voices across different faith traditions sharing the same message:
“Our God language matters because it is how we conceptualize that which we hold as ideal. And in Western culture, which is deeply tied to Empire types of Christianity, Christian metaphors for God have been mired for centuries in tradition, sexism, and power.
The pervasive idea that God equals male turned into male equals God. It has damaged us all at every level from personal to societal, and it needs to change.”
As humans (for better or for worse), we’ve been taught to view the world through the lens of gender. This is how we connect to reality and make sense of the world.
This is therefore how many people make choices and make sense of God’s Creation (the world and humans).
How we view and express (and receive views of) God is therefore critical to how we view ourselves and others – even if you believe God is genderless and divine, as opposed to mortal.
For, where patriarchal views of God prevail, so do patriarchal practices.
Male-centric perceptions of God do not only reject the (positive) “feminine aspects” of human behaviour (even if arguably stereotypical qualities).
Crucially, they also impose a solely masculine view of the world and humanity which values stereotypical “male traits”.
And it’s no mistake – it’s deliberate, in particular in the Abrahamic traditions and the Western context.
It’s exactly because male scholars, male theologians and male faith leaders reject the spiritual, social and cultural equality, value and rights of women, that they exclude the Divine Feminine, whilst actively presenting a masculine view of the Divine.
Whether conscious or unconscious in today’s world (patriarchy still exists but we’ve come a long way!), these systems fail to celebrate our strengths and our qualities as women.
They simply exist to allow men to dominate and masculinity alone to be celebrated.
Given the impact of faith on society and socio-cultural norms, the masculine view of God (or negative presence/portrayal of the divine feminine) therefore translates to perpetuating/imposing norms of “worth”. And crucially, how men and women should behave.
We’re now starting to embrace views of gender beyond the male-female binary.
And so, this leaves scope to consider as a society: how do we embrace a more genderless/genderfluid perception of the Divine? How do we refer and relate to God?
It needs careful balancing and consideration for two reasons.
Firstly, we need to ensure equal representation, inclusion and perspectives.
Secondly – and what I’ve most recently come to realise by increasingly embracing the Feminine Divine (for example during a spiritual pilgrimage in Glastonbury): to enable us to embrace the healing love of the Divine Feminine.
This something that I believe is both positive and inf act necessary to ensure balance and to truly benefit from the power and love of the Divine in our spiritual experience, growth and wellbeing.
Celebrating femininity: a sacred gift
Firstly, we’re a long way from a gender-neutral spiritual reality.
Most of the world still views society through the binary lens of gender. And in this binary: patriarchy comes out top.
For as long as we live in a gendered society, which includes imagining God through a human lens of gender: we must also include women.
This means embracing the Divine Feminine – the representation of inclusive, positive portrayals of the feminine.
However, as humans, both in particularly for myself as a woman of faith but also for likeminded individuals (all our fellow humans) this isn’t about simply “balancing a binary”.
It’s about celebrating who we are as women, as people and as humans (whatever our gender). About recognising the power, love and place of the feminine in our spiritual lives.
We need that balance. The Divine Feminine links us to nature, life, to our origins as humans. Women and the feminine makes up half of God’s Creation after all.
As women, we have our own sacred relationship with God too. Likewise, men, non-binary folks, anyone who wants to connect spiritually would benefit from this balance.
We all come from one source – physically from our mothers, spiritually from God, “Mother Nature”, our Creator. The two are linked.
Take myself. I feel innately blessed knowing that the womb God blessed me with draws me closer to him (even if I never have children). Just like the womb that held me as my mother was pregnant – the womb that God blessed her with.
It’s the circle of life – and it’s wrapped up in feminine energy, wisdom and love.
The very womb I hold (and that of our mothers) has been designed by God to nurture and comfort children of our own. To create life out of love (yes, I’m traditional – each to their own! – but it’s natural).
It’s a blessed opportunity to have children if we can/choose to (as not having children makes us no less “feminine”).
However, the intense love that I’ll feel for my children will be but a drop in the ocean of the love our Heavenly Father has for us. An intense bond, a link, a chain.
Yes, whilst we can nurture and bear new life, God gave life to a whole world!
The womb I carry is therefore a mini symbol of the care, mercy and love that God holds for me and Her Creation. She is our Creator and she blesses us with the power to “create”.
This is incredibly, powerful, beautiful and sacred.
So, it begs the question: how can one shy away from the Divine Feminine? It’s our physical link between God and humanity!
Secular Western culture: embracing the Divine Feminine
This reoccurring symbolism of mothers-birth and God-Creation is a fundamental human expression of rationalising the unimageable: God (a very non-human force).
And it’s not just an expression of the Feminine Divine in theological contexts, but one that has crossed into secular contexts.
Think of the words “Mother Nature”. Here’s a term which is deeply embedded in Western culture, and yet presents an innately feminine way of looking at the Creator.
Women give life – and we were blessed with that gift from God, the Giver of Life. And the irony is, this is exactly why patriarchy exists: because such men want to control women’s bodies.
In the West, this concept of Mother Nature/Earth is usually presented as a secular reference to the natural world. However, that’s not where it started!
Native American tradition, Greek mythology and now even Neo-Paganism (among many beliefs and philosophies), fully embrace the concept of Mother Nature as the Divine Feminine.
In the pagan world for example, there’s variance of male and female representation – but it’s there. Just like the growing numbers of pagans in the UK, USA and Europe.
Take the reclaiming of the word “witch” for example, and the experience of many in places such as Glastonbury.
Here, pilgrims (pagans and non-pagans alike) nestle in the warmth of the Goddess Temple to pray, to bathe in the White Spring and to walk in remembrance of persecuted witches and unite and pray as modern witches (healers).
The Wiccan tradition for example is a growing movement in the Western world, referring specifically to a dualistic Divine with masculine and feminine Gods/Goddesses.
Likewise (borrowing from Eastern tradition), we’re all familiar with the concept of yin and yang.
Stemming from Taoist religious philosophy, this too refers to a binary balance of masculine (yang) and feminine (yin) energy. And this too has seeped into the Western secular world.
In both the secular and sacred world, we’re fighting to include women.
We’re adopting spiritual/religious expressions of the Feminine Divine, creating shared spaces and calling for shared leadership.
Likewise, we’re also striving for women’s rights outside of theological spaces and teachings – to change the social, cultural and political realities of women’s rights. It’s all part of the wider egalitarian, feminist struggle.
And so, it’s time for religious traditions to step up. This, of course, includes examining how theological traditions view and represent God/The Divine.
For many of us, God has no literal gender. But that’s not the point: it’s how we portray God that’s important.
It’s a reflection of how we view the world, society and the people in it:
“God is male, yes, but also female, for God is everything.” (Matt Pointon)
So, whether that means a linguistic shift in an Abrahamic tradition (Judaism and Islam), embracing the Feminine qualities of Jesus and Mary in Christianity, re-discovering Mother Earth in Sikhism or praying to Mother Earth in the pagan world, let’s embrace the Divine Feminine inside our theology.
Just as we must embrace the struggle for women’s rights across the board – on our streets, in our workplaces and globally as one society.
As a Sikh sister, Ravneet Kaur Tiwana, so eloquently expressed:
“… my spiritual goal is to be the lotus flower. But only if I allow her divine femininity to shine within me.
The lotus flower is not completely understood by science, although entirely embraced by the divine… the mind alone cannot understand divine power. It must connect with the heart and soul.
Lay humble to these gateways to bliss… Only then can we (men and women) become like the lotus flower.”
To embrace God, we need to embrace the Divine Feminine.
And so, while God already embraces us as his “Children”, are we ready to fully embrace God?
Dedication and thanks:
With thanks to Matt Pointon, Roni Roseberg, Haroun Arif, Hossam ed-Deen Allam, Thao Nguyen, Rabbi Jackie Tabick, Doreen Samuels, Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, Rachel Rose Reid, Ketzirah Lesser, Dr Swati Chakraborty, Janani Chaitanya, Charanjit Kaur, the Goddess Temple and White Spring (Glastonbury) for their advice, input and assistance with this series and along my spiritual journey.
This series is dedicated to my late mother for her love, guidance and inspiration. May she rest in peace.
This post was originally published on Voice of Salam.