“Analytical psychology has recognized that a female element exists and is active in men’s unconscious, and a male element in women’s unconscious. A depth psychology of the feminine and of women that takes these new insights into account is necessary if we are to comprehend all the problems of relationship and of marriage; but beyond this it also makes it possible for both women an men to understand themselves more fully. ~ Erich Neumann, The Fear of the Feminine, pp. xi-xii.
That no one can be whole without accepting their feminine side and that the Sacred indwells all of us are not new ideas. But what is less commonly known is that these ideas were accepted by many early Christians.
Dr. Stephan Hoeller has examined the Dead Sea Scrolls and the lost gospels found in the Nag Hammadi Library in Egypt. In Jung and the Lost Gospels he notes that in the Gospel of Thomas Simon Peter asks Jesus to send Mary away from the disciples because he believes women unworthy. In response to Peter’s chauvinism, Jesus tells him in the only way he is capable of understanding, “…every woman that becomes male will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus shows that the opposite is also true when he says, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inmost as the outermost and the outer as the inner and the above as the below, and when you make the male and female into a single unity, so that the male will not be only male and the female will not be only female…then surely you will enter the kingdom.”
Dr. Elaine Pagels, professor of religion at Princeton, has also studied the lost gospels. In Beyond Belief she describes the writings and actions of many early church leaders who, despite the assertion in the book of Genesis that we were made “in the image of God,” simply could not conceive “that God’s light shines not only in Jesus but, potentially, at least, in everyone”. For example, Irenaeus, the Christian bishop of Lyons (c. 180) vigorously warned his flock to despise “heretics” who suggest that we have inner spiritual resources. Nonetheless, what Irenaeus dismissed as heretical later became a central theme of Jewish mystical tradition — that the ‘image of God’ is hidden within each of us, secretly linking God and all humankind.
The lost gospels show that Jesus gave special teachings to those of his disciples who could understand them. One of these was Mary Magdalene who succeeded in making the “male” (masculine mode of energy) and “female” (feminine mode of energy) into a single unity, thus experiencing the Sacred Marriage and entering the kingdom within.
In psychological language we would say that her ego died to the world’s opinion and established the proper relationship with the Sacred Self within. We can imagine how mind-blowing this inner re-centering must have been at a time when no one had any understanding of psychology. In freeing herself from narrow conventional thinking she must have been a revolutionary role model for women, a formidable proponent of the new religion, and an easy target for misogynists like Pope Gregory who, over 500 years later, labeled her a fallen, sinful woman.
In the first century Middle East the concepts of femininity being as worthy as masculinity and humanity containing divinity were incomprehensible to most people and documents promoting these ideas had to be hidden away to prevent their destruction. Thus, much of the wisdom of the early “Jesus Movement” was lost to the masses for two thousand years. Fortunately, it is being resurrected today by Spirit Warriors from every religion who honor the authority of God’s kingdom within each of us over limiting beliefs imposed by human hierarchies from without.
“Without the true masculine spirit and the true feminine love within, no inner life exists . . . . To be free is to break the stone images and allow life and love to flow.” ~ Marion Woodman, Addiction to Perfection, p. 188.
Paper and E-book versions of The Bridge to Wholeness and Dream Theatres of the Soul are at Amazon. The Wilbur Award-winning Healing the Sacred Divide can be found at Amazon and Larson Publications.com. Jean’s new Nautilus Award-winning The Soul’s Twins, is at Amazon and Schiffer’s Red Feather Mind, Body, Spirit. Subscribe to her newsletter at www.jeanbenedictraffa.com.
10 Responses
divine…. Eastern greeting gesture…
Namaste…. is bringing the feminine right
brain…represented by left hand and
masculine left brain …represented by
right hand and bringing them together is marriage
of feminine and masculine and when
oneness happens …many call it as enlightenment
that is sacred marriage within…the
kingdom of God..
love all…
Yes, that gesture is a beautiful reminder of inner union. It’s still a bit of a pleasant surprise to be greeted that way, and it always fills me with warmth and pleasure. It’s especially meaningful when you don’t know someone’s language and want to express appreciation for their kindness. It connects the two of you in ways you both understand.
Jeanie
Just as it is that for any man to walk the earth, he must come through woman, so is it to enter the kingdom of God. Star
Dear Star,
Beautifully said! Another lovely image to add to Ram’s “Namaste” as a symbol of enlightenment. And here’s a third: Just as it takes two hemispheres to make a whole planet and a whole brain, so does it take the Sacred Marriage between the masculine and the feminine to attain psycho-spiritual wholeness. Thanks for writing.
Namaste
Jeanie
soul: the vital principle in man credited to the faculty of thought, emotion, action (psychology). “male and female created he them.” Genesis 5:2. ”
“We are all spiritually male and female. We are male in that we have the ability to sow spiritual seed by spiritual energy. We are female in that we serve as a protective habitat for this seed and energy. Our male aspect is our inner being of spirit and word, which is the essence of our father. Our female aspect is the receptacle for this spirit and word, which is our mother. Through a spiritual intercourse, our spiritual father sows spiritual seed through spiritual energy into our spiritual mother. The physical mother, which conceives of physical seed, is the female body. The spiritual mother, which conceives of spiritual seed, is the heart.” -THE BIBLE DECODED
Marriage (in spiritual terms) is intercourse. Intercourse (in spiritual terms) is communication.
Hi Sandra, Thank you for sharing this except from The Bible Decoded. I’ve not seen this before. I’m so glad to see that there are books like this that explain the sayings of the Bible in the way they were originally intended: as mythopoetic metaphors and symbols that speak to the heart and soul about mysteries that cannot be understood any other way. Interpreting the many layers of meaning of this mysterious holy book only in terms of reason, literalism, and logic is like draining all the life-giving sap out of a majestic tree and worshiping its dry bones. Blessings, Jeanie
“…every woman that becomes male will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus shows that the opposite is also true when he says, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inmost as the outermost and the outer as the inner and the above as the below, and when you make the male and female into a single unity, so that the male will not be only male and the female will not be only female…then surely you will enter the kingdom.”
“male and female created he them.” Genesis 5:2. We are all spiritually male and female. We are male in that we have the ability to sow spiritual seed by spiritual energy. We are female in that we serve as a protective habitat for this seed and energy. Our male aspect is our inner being of spirit and word. “Let us make man in our image; after our likeness.” Genesis 1:26. The “our” is God’s Spirit (Genesis 1:2) and God’s word (Genesis 1:3). The Spirit of God is Love. The Word of God is Truth. Physical manifestations of the Spirit and Word were Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Caleb, Elijah and Elisha, John and Jesus (male). This makes up the inner-being, which is to rule the flesh, the flesh body made by the woman (female)…”made of a woman, made under the law.” Galatians 4:4. It was never about the man ruling over the woman. That’s patriarchal religion. It’s about the spirit/love and word/truth (male) ruling our over the mind and heart (female), the two spiritual aspects of the soul: the vital principle in man credited to the faculty of thought, emotion, action. When the mind and heart (female/woman) conceives of truth via the holy spirit (male) the two become one. The “kingdom of heaven” symbolizes the “realm of the mind.” The “kingdom of God,” which Jesus says is within us (Luke 17:21) symbolizes the “realm of the Heart.” God is the Father, consisting of spirit and word (energy and seed), as it is the man that sows his seed by his energy into the woman, conceived in that spiritual womb called the Heart, symbolized in scripture by Jerusalem, “the Mother of us all.”
Godspeed
Heart and Spirit: Mother and Father. Life cannot be created or maintained without both. The Divine is composed of both.Thank you for sharing these additional thoughts. Jeanie
My pleasure. More food for thought: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3), referring to Jesus, the seed or word of God made flesh . All things are made by a seed, the spirit being the energy that sows the seed. I am stressing this point because I have noticed (over the past twenty two years on social media) that the word is being left out of the equation. The physical creation was made when God spoke His word, which was the sowing of God’s seed into the earth, forming His creation. The word is synonymous with the works…”If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.” (Jesus). Our spiritual creation; that of “a new heaven and a new earth,” symbolizing “a new mind and a new heart” (Revelation 21:1) requires the sowing of God’s seed (word of truth) into that spiritual earth called the heart (the earth-heart anagram is no coincidence). It’s a pleasure to meet you Jean.
🙂