This is the fourth essay in our series about Mother in Heaven
Click here to read the first essay in this series
Click here to read the second essay in this series
Click here to read the third essay in this series
Finding opportunities to discuss the concept of a Heavenly Mother safely can be hard to come by. Due to the large amount of mystery surrounding Her there is a tendency for hushed tones and whispered questions akin to the side of a deathbed. Why is that, though?
As Eliza R. Snow so eloquently phrased it “Truth is reason, truth eternal tells me I’ve a Mother there…” If one subscribes to Mormon doctrine it is pretty clear that in order to have existed as spiritual children, and have a Heavenly Father then of course we also have a Heavenly Mother. I can’t see any way around it really. So why if the concept is something so integral to our creation do we not even discuss it, and even find active ways to not discuss it?
Prior to becoming LDS the concept (fully formed) that I had a Heavenly Mother had never crossed my mind. There were stirrings, and questions, and the constant longing for a mother even while sitting next to my earthly mother. All signs pointed to a divine longing. So, when Her existence did first come to my attention it was literally like coming home again. The reuniting of a mother and daughter separated at birth; never to be wrenched apart again. That is not what I found though. I found that mention of Heavenly Mother instead of exhilarating people I knew, it frightened them. As if the wrath of God were to be brought down upon the heads of all those who dare speak of Her presence. She was a leper among her own children, and it was not something I could abide.
I have had a handful of deeply meaningful spiritual experiences in my life and of those a few deal specifically with Heavenly Mother. Due to these experiences, I cannot allow others to tell me that she has no place in my worship of the Divine, and it offends my sensibilities to be told that she has no place in our collective worship as well. Of course there are many theories about the Godhead, and Her role in it but absent any explicit revelation, we are merely left to infer Her existence, or ignore it as we wish.
She is my mother. She is a goddess. She is the co-creator of my soul. She is the matriarch of my life, and this race. She is every bit as worthy of my reverence, and relationship as any member of the Godhead, and I will treat Her accordingly. She is the mother I never knew I had and I long for her presence in our communal worship.
EOR
EOR is a convert and a divorcee. She is the 2013 Wheaties award winning author in the category: "Funniest Thread", and has a B.S. in Business Management and Economics. In addition to being a permablogger at Rational Faiths, she also is a permablogger at Expert Textperts. She lives in NY, has 2 cats, and enjoys brevity, deli sandwiches, and laughing.
All posts by EOR
Wow. Perfectly put. . . simple. Powerful. Thank you.
I believe the scriptures that tell me I am made in the image of God. And I am a woman. . . so. . .
Thanks EOR. I believe the day will come.
“…it frightened them. As if the wrath of God were to be brought down upon the heads of all those who dare speak of Her presence.”
I think the real reason that people are so afraid of HM is that it implies that our beliefs about deity are culturally constructed to a great extent. That we could at one point believe that the godhead is comprised of three males (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and no mother and then change our views so that the godhead is inclusive of the Mother would suggest that our vision of deity was in some sense limited before. People want to have unchanging theological doctrines because, according to this view, the more unchanging the beliefs the more they are thought to be spiritually authentic. Of course, this kind of thinking misses the fact that religious beliefs are always changing. Even in our own faith, belief in Heavenly Mother has meant different things at different points in our history, just as well as our beliefs in much of everything else. We need to be comfortable with change, with spiritual evolution–Mormons should be the most comfortable with eternal progression in our knowledge of religious things.
Indeed.
RT I concur that Mormon doctrine is uniquely situated not only to allow for change, but actually to encourage change. However, like Melody mentioned, we are told we are created in the image of God, but God is male. As women we too are owed a divine being to look to. One we can gauge and model our own eternal progression after. There are some things that women just need other women for and imo at a minimum that is enough to seek after our Heavenly Mother. Thanks for your comments.
Agreed. I was just giving an extra theological justification for changing what is already an ethically problematic male only theology.
I was at dinner on Saturday night when the subject of Heavenly Mother as the Holy Ghost came up. I’ve been thinking about it ever since. What do you think, EOR?
Jerilyn, it is an interesting theory and one that I have heard before. My problem with it is that through our understanding of how a God/dess becomes a God/dess the theory falls apart. The Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit (whichever you prefer) lacks a physical body. Heavenly Mother (in order to be Heavenly Mother) would have to be a corporeal being. With both of those things being true I don’t see how there is room for the theory to hold water.
Now, of course I am completely open to “our understanding of things…” being entirely flawed so I am not saying it is a false theory. I just don’t really see how it holds up based on current Mormon thought. What do you think?
I wrote a piece on this subject a while ago for Exponent II if you’re interested: “My Search for the Divine Feminine,” 25-28. You can access the journal at: http://www.exponentii.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Fall-2010.pdf
I actually believe that Holy Spirit was originally a name for the Heavenly Mother in the Bible, and that this can be shown by the tools of biblical scholarship. I will be posting on this subject in the next few weeks here at Rational Faiths, so stay tuned. And by the way, I will try and show in the post why the whole corporeality/non-corporeality issue is not really an issue.