4/9/2024 0 Comments Divine feminine art painting(I am not saying that Mary is the first Incarnation, only that she became the natural archetype and symbol for it, particularly in art.) I believe that Mary is the major feminine archetype for the Christ Mystery. In the mythic imagination, I think Mary intuitively symbolizes the first Incarnation-or Mother Earth, if you will allow me. We are clearly dealing not just with a single woman here but a foundational symbol-or, to borrow the language of Carl Jung (1875–1961), an “archetype”-an image that constellates a whole host of meanings that cannot be communicated logically but is grounded in our collective unconscious. Why did Christianity, in both the East and West, fall head over heels in love with this seemingly ordinary woman Mary, who is a minor figure in the New Testament? We gave her names like Theotokos, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, Notre Dame, La Virgen of this or that, Nuestra Señora, Our Mother of Sorrows, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and Our Lady of just about every village or shrine in Europe. Father Richard describes Mary as a feminine symbol for the divine presence:Īlthough Jesus was a man, the Christ is beyond gender, so it should be expected that the Big Tradition would have found feminine ways, consciously or unconsciously, to symbolize the full Divine Incarnation and to give God a more feminine character-as the Bible itself often does. This week, we consider the implications that the Divine Feminine has in our lives. Both Scripture and Tradition offer metaphors of God as female, having feminine qualities, or fulfilling traditionally female roles.
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