|
I'm reading the below book now:
The Cosmic Shekinah: A historical study of the goddess of the Old Testament and Kabbalah
And I'm learning many interesting things.
The authors conflate the Judeo-Christian Wisdom Goddess (Shekinah-Sophia-Holy Spirit), with some ancient middle eastern goddesses, specifically Inanna, Astarte, Asherah and Isis.
The Kabalistic interpretation is particularly interesting, I will post some relevant passages to this thread.
I really like this one:
"She sits on the Throne of Glory
The Throne of Glory is the centre of an epic spiritual quest which forms the basis of a school of Jewish mysticism which influenced the Kabbalah, called Merkavah mysticism. Merkavah (meaning ‘chariot’) mysticism is based on the idea that with sufficient preparation and purification, a Merkavah rider can ascend through the seven palaces (which correspond to the seven classical planets and the lower Sephiroth on the Qabalistic Tree of Life) to enter the presence of God, where he sits on the Throne of Glory. This is derived from the vision described in the first verse of the Book of Ezekiel, and a collection of literature known as the Hekhalot (‘palace’) texts, which includes the Book of 3 Enoch.
Significantly there is reference to more than one Throne in some of the texts like 3 Enoch, with one for God and/or one for the Shekinah (as in the fourth century CE Merkavah text Re’uyot Yehezkiel). We should also remember that the name of the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis meant ‘throne’, and her symbol was a throne, so it is possible that her influence as a wisdom goddess was a contributory factor to the development of this path. Some scholars have also suggested the Isian influence, such as MacRae, who commented that he believed the origin of the Jewish concept of wisdom (the Shekinah) can be found in “the late Jewish tendency toward the hypostatization of divine attributes and the widespread ancient myths of the female deity, especially the Isis myths”.xxxii
The controversial and to some blasphemous text Shiur Qoma (Measure of the Height), which gives the dimensions of God’s body (and hence describes the indescribable), includes an interesting reference to the Shekinah and the Throne of Glory, saying that:
“The angels that are with Metatron come and surround the Throne of Glory, they on one side, Chaioth [the highest angels] on the other, and the Shekinah on the Shekinah of Glory in the middle.”xxxiii
...
She is Eternal Light
The most apparent visible motif of the Shekinah is that of light. The association is seen in numerous descriptions of her radiance, her manifestations (e.g. as the burning bush), and her role as the primordial light of creation in Kabbalistic cosmology.
Light is an obvious symbol for wisdom, representing the illumination that results from the insights and realisations gained from wisdom. The prevalence of light, and accordingly fire as a source of light, in the ancient world, has ensured that it is a common attribution for many significant and powerful deities. An example of this theme of divine light is seen in ancient Greece, where “brightness was linked with divine epiphanies in the Homeric poems, and often assumed concrete forms, such as the lamp of Athena, to express divine power in human terms”.xxxvi
Today the symbolism of the light of the Shekinah is seen most clearly in the two candles lit at Jewish Shabbat ceremonies round the world every Friday evening, and the Menorah candlestick with its sevenfold and tenfold symbolisms.
,,,
She is Wisdom, the Saviour
It would perhaps be more appropriate to rephrase this section title to say ‘Wisdom Goddess as saviour, with a Creator God husband/father’. This theme recurs through a number of mythologies, and may indicate patterns of cultural influence or simply represent manifestations of particular universal themes in different civilizations.
However in order of antiquity we see the theme of Creator God with Wisdom Goddess as daughter or bride in a number of cultures, including:
-the Sumerian Enki and Inanna,
-the Canaanite El and Asherah,
-the Hebrew Yahweh and Asherah,
-the Hebrew Yahweh and the Wisdom Goddess,
-the Gnostic God and Sophia,
-the Chaldean Zeus and Hekate,
-the Hebrew Yahweh and Shekinah.
In each instance there is a clear salvation theme associated with the feminine divine, thus Inanna presents the me (powers) to her people in Uruk; Isis-Ma’at represents truth, justice and natural balance and is frequently described as a saviour figure; Asherah is the Mother of the Gods and dispenser of wisdom; the Wisdom Goddess is co-creatrix with Yahweh and bestower of wisdom; Hekate is the cosmic world soul and speaker of truth who is known as Soteira (saviour); Sophia is the creatrix of the world and bringer of wisdom; and the Shekinah is the world soul and source of primordial light and divine wisdom. All of these goddesses, with their possible links to the Shekinah or similarities in motifs and symbols will be discussed in the following chapters. "
|