Like Ariana said… What if God was a Woman?

When it comes to the divine, religion, or spirituality, I certainly do not have all the answers. In fact, I pretty much only have questions. Not subscribing to any one faith, I tend to approach the topic critically and with an open mindset.

I’ve never been religious and, even as a child, didn’t identify with the religion my parents associated with. I couldn’t get past the fact that, at the end of the day, there is no real, tangible way of knowing. Or at least not yet anyway. And having a blind, unwavering belief in something that was simply told to me, via word of mouth, always seemed naive. I mean, didn’t they always tell us to not believe or trust everything you hear? And then there’s the game of telephone, where a simple sentence can be contorted to a point where it conveys an entirely different meaning, just by the attempted transfer of information down a line of a few people. As you can probably tell, “old soul” was a term commonly thrown at me by the adults that came in contact with my curiosity.

However, it wasn’t until 2 years ago that I finally started to nail down some spiritual beliefs of my own. And believe it or not, what sparked this awakening was a show on Netflix… Manifest. They posed a philosophical question of whether Noah (Noah’s Ark) was a savior, or an agent of the apocalypse and my mind was just about blown. And by the end, I was picking it off ground, completely shattered to pieces. This made me look at religion and the divine in a whole different light and with so so many more questions! The first being, what role do women, the feminine, or femininity play in westernized religion and spirituality?

Before discussing my theoretical findings and observations, I want to be clear that although some may be deemed controversial, I am not stating any of these ideas as fact or to be true. I’m simply letting my mind wander, unrestricted, and sharing the insight I acquire along the way. Looking at facts, or by making factual observations, I’ve come up with a core philosophy that serves as a foundation for not only my spiritual beliefs, but for how I view the world around us.

I think we can all agree, at least to some degree, that in the world or society we live in today there feels as if there is an imbalance — whether in regard to power and success, gender roles and race theory, or even our climate and environment (etc.). With a bit of background knowledge on the effects of climate change, recessions and depressions within our economy, and humanity’s evolution acquired over time — I solidified my belief that balance and duality, being one and the same in the given context, is essential for universal order or, less intimidatingly, for the world to keep spinning and for peace to be attainable. Looking at the universe similarly to an ecosystem where, if imbalanced, it will find a way to re-attain and maintain homeostasis.

When approaching the concept in relation to the divine, I did so with a feminist mindset and insight gained from personal experiences. With feminism being defined as:

belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests *

Emphasizing the “equality of the sexes,” I believe that there needs to be a balance or harmony between the masculine and the feminine. I'm not saying that it’s not a spectrum, because I believe these polarities serve as the end points from which everything is derived from in between. But instead, stressing the importance of the mere existence of the two energies and their ability to manifest themselves in the way they choose. Unrestricted. Allowing each to stand in their own power.

Looking at the concept on a much larger scale, the duality of these two energies is everywhere, from animals and plants to the creation of life. So, when turning our focus to the divine, what should make us theorize any differently? Although my spiritual beliefs center around an entity rather than physical, or metaphysical beings, if there ARE two divine beings — one above and one below — why wouldn’t one be in the masculine and one be in the feminine?

Removing the terms masculine and feminine and looking at the two, instead as a set of characteristics, it became clear — at least to me — that “God,” or the divine being associated with the creation of life and dictating morality, could very possibly be a woman. For instance, when describing women people tend to lean towards qualities such as,

caring or nurturing towards others, empathetic and compassionate, community driven, moralistic, intuitive, and ultimately the creators of life in our immediate reality.

Meanwhile, male characteristics are often defined as,

having physical strength, stubborn and one-sided, sexually driven, emotional (specifically anger and aggression), and is typically the sex most associated with violence.

When considering the concept of duality and the idea of good and bad, it is important to note that although there are ends to the spectrum, nothing can be all good and nothing can be all bad. So, when going to define things within its context, it needs to be done knowing that they are more generalizations rather than solid definitions. With that being said, when looking at the two sets of characteristics, the relation to the two moral avenues of the divine is evident.

Now the influence of the feminine in religion, spirituality, and the divine doesn’t stop at the ‘all powerful.’ For instance, most accounts of witches and healers throughout history are women. Take the Salem Witch Trials for example, where women were massacred, burned at the stake in Salem, Massachusetts. A historical event that fully embodies this concept of duality and divine femininity — from the influence of the masculine and feminine energies on gender characteristics to women’s connection to the divine, and what can happen when there is an imbalance.

Ultimately, there is no answer — at least for now. In the meantime, I enjoy contemplating what could be and trying to connect the dots I come across. And who knows…

maybe God is a woman.