I want a Goddess, but I feel like I'd be betraying God

Post by **seawitch** » Thu Mar 05, 2015 11:03 pm

As I have stated before, I believe in and love God and Jesus Christ. I'm not Christian, Catholic, or any branch off of those religions. Long story short, I'm not religious. Honestly, the only reason I even still believe in, worship, and love God and Jesus Christ is because they've contacted me, and they've always been there for me, and have done so much for me when either I've asked for it, or just because. So, I am fully convinced of their existence and love. I personally believe that they are loving and a lot more laid back than most people like to say they are.

Even though I have this awesome relationship with them, I still feel something is missing. A Goddess. The only thing is, is that the Virgin Mary doesn't speak to me, reach out to me, or anything of that sort. I don't believe it's because she doesn't exist, it just might be that this particular Goddess just isn't for me. That's fine, but I feel like I'll betray God and Jesus if I seek elsewhere for a Goddess. I know that the God and Goddess do not necessarily have to match, but I'm just afraid that I'll be considered unfaithful or something. This might be due to growing up in a Catholic household, and it just might be fear. I know God and Jesus are very loving and laid back, and wouldn't care, but I still feel like I'm saying they're not good enough. I know they won't hold it against me, though. I'm a little torn here. I want one, but I've been putting off looking for one. Has anybody else gone through this?

Post by **SnowCat** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 6:57 am

Yes, and my fear stemmed from growing up Catholic. I finally realized that the Catholic Church doesn't know everything and accepted that there's more to the universe than what I had been taught. Just listen for a goddess to contact you. It will happen.

Snow

Post by **RosieMoonflower** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 8:14 am

What about the Holy Spirit? Many people believe the Holy Spirit is the Goddess and the chauvinistic Hebrew priests interpreted her as a spirit of God rather than a goddess herself. In a book written by King Solomon that didn't make it into the Christian bible but I believe is in the catholic bible, King Solomon refers to the Spirit of God as Sophia, which means wisdom in Greek. So some call the Holy Spirit Sophia to respect her as a Goddess in her own right. Gnostic Christianity is basically based upon this and other books that did not make it Into the bible. You will find many posts about this on this site. I will try to gather a few links and post them here. I was also raised a Christian and still have an amazing relationship with God. And I also was slightly afraid of loosing or angering God by seeking out a Goddess. But, I understand now that my fear comes from a fear of Polytheism. I'm just not use to it. But, I believe that God has led me to this point in my life and wants me to seek out the Goddess in my own way.

Another thing for you to consider is history here. The God of the bible that spoke to Abraham and made a covenant with him to only worship one god, him, was called Yaweh, and he had a wife if you will named Asherah. These two were Cannonite Gods that the Hebrews had accepted as they were polytheists until their pact with Yaweh was made. This is essentially what led to tearing down all of Asherahs statues and temples. The Hebrews felt she shouldn't be worshiped and only Yaweh. Many believe that King Solomon recognized Sophia as Asherah and kept statues of her erected throughout his life.

Okay, I know I always say this, but another thing that really helped me was to study other religions and find their similarities. Abraham and Sara's name are super close to the same names as a main Hindu God and his wife. If you look it up, Abraham was believed to come from Indian philosophers that left India for the Middle East and brough their traditions and religious stories with them and eventually merged them with Cannonite religion. Jesus's story is super similar to Vishnu (Hindu God) and Horus (Egyptian God). I'm not saying that makes them not real. Maybe the same story has been retelling itself throughout history so we will notice it and it's importance..? Anyways, for me this was like some sort of revelation that religion is man made and therefore I don't have to be afraid of what someone put in a book. I just need to ask God what's right and wrong and listen for the answer. I don't think that my God thinks I'm evil for using divination or talking to spirits and therefore I don't think God will forsake me if I seek out his female counterpart. Hope this helped you! Welcome to the forum and look around and ask questions! There are many helpful people here!

Rosie [GREEN HEART]

Post by **RosieMoonflower** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 1:27 pm

You might have to scroll down but there is some really helpful info on the HolySpirit in this thread. http://www.everythingunderthemoon.net/f ... php?t=2957

And another where I posted a link to some info online: http://www.everythingunderthemoon.net/f ... hp?t=29857

Here is a decent post on Gnosticism. http://www.everythingunderthemoon.net/f ... hp?t=20283

Another that came as. Response to the last, or at least quotes the last to start a new topic: http://www.everythingunderthemoon.net/f ... hp?t=28914

Post by **Seraphin** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 9:55 pm

If you're going to approach this in Gnostic way, there's nothing to worry about. As Rosie said, many Gnostics believe that the Holy Spirit is a Goddess. They embraced it as a personified wisdom, Sophia, understood variously and taken as the manifestation of divine insight. Gnostic didn't represent a single or universal set of beliefs, unlike other Christian sects. In fact, there were various philosophies, beliefs and spiritual views, some even contradicting one another. But there was a common thread that ran through these multiplicity of beliefs -- Gnostics sought knowledge and wisdom.

On the other hand, if you're going to approach this in Christian and Hebrew perspective, I'm afraid you're indeed betraying their God as it was said, "You shall have no other Gods before me." This specific commandment is meant to last FOREVER -- and if you still see yourself as a Christian, I believe in my humble opinion should pay attention to this as a respect to your God and your faith.

Post by **RosieMoonflower** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:30 pm

Why do you have to believe that every word in the bible is true, to believe in Jesus?

My point being, the bible says a lot of stuff that the average Christian does not adhere too. You may see some Orthodox Jews adhere to some of these things.

Only a small portion of the Bible is even about Jesus and his works. The rest of them are people establishing the rules of the church. But I do not believe you have to obey the rules of the church to be a follower of Jesus.

Post by **AdastraJunction** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 10:54 pm

Rosie, Please be respectful and not confrontational of others beliefs, even though they may not be in line with your own. Try not to make assumptions. Many peoples beliefs are deep rooted and hard to move past when they are trying to grow spiritually.

Post by **RosieMoonflower** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:01 pm

I was responding to Seraphin's response and I didn't realize I was being confrontational or disrespectful. I'm sorry Seraphin.

Rosie [GREEN HEART]

Post by **RosieMoonflower** » Fri Mar 06, 2015 11:21 pm

Re-reading my comment I see that it could come off a little short and therefore gruff. I truly apologize. I definitely should have started my post with the fact that I do completely respect your opinion, Seraphin. I merely asked my question to prompt further discussion on this issue. Sorry if it was taken the wrong way, nothing meant by it.

Rosie [GREEN HEART]

Post by **SnowCat** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:56 am

One of the problems with online conversation, is the lack of nuance. In a face to face conversation, body language and vocal tone help immensely in understanding.

Getting back to the Judeo-Christian concept of God, I see the leadership trying to control the population by putting a deity in a box, and demanding that everyone jump into that same box. A certain amount of safety is felt in conforming to those doctrines, and it works well for many people. I don't recall it ever working well for me.

Snow

Post by **Seraphin** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 4:00 am

Rosie wrote:Why do you have to believe that every word in the bible is true, to believe in Jesus?

My point being, the bible says a lot of stuff that the average Christian does not adhere too. You may see some Orthodox Jews adhere to some of these things.

Only a small portion of the Bible is even about Jesus and his works. The rest of them are people establishing the rules of the church. But I do not believe you have to obey the rules of the church to be a follower of Jesus.

As I said earlier, this perfectly fits if you identify yourself as a Gnostic. But if youre claiming youre a Christian or a Jew, then youre expected to follow monetheistic principle and the Bible.

Don't worry, I don't really find your responses disrepectful to my beliefs since I'm not a Christian but for the Christians, they might see this as confrontational.

Post by **Vesca** » Sat Mar 07, 2015 12:50 pm

Now I'm curious to hear Seawitch's thoughts on all these things, or if they have had any time to mull it over.

Post by **seawitch** » Sun Mar 08, 2015 12:03 am

Thank you all for responding. I am still a little scared. I agree with SnowCat that the church doesn't know everything about life, and that there's more.

Rosie, thank you for the information on the Holy Spirit. I read it, and she does sound interesting. I'm going to research her a little more.

Adastra is right that when trying to grow spiritually, what you have been taught is still deep rooted, which is why I'm so afraid.

I also agree that you don't have to follow the Bible in order to be a follower of Jesus and God. I sure don't, and they have both given me nothing but love. As Seraphin pointed out, people who identify as Christian or Jewish do follow that one rule.

I think my fear is stemmed from being taught that God is the only god out there, and we shouldn't follow anybody else. As I have mentioned before, I have talked to God about this, and He said it's fine with Him. I am working to fully accept that this really is okay, given what I've been taught. I think another part might be possibly going outside of the Christian/Catholic religion to find my Goddess, which is funny because I don't even consider myself religious.

I plan on meditating, and asking God to help me look for a Goddess. Maybe give me a sign in a dream or something. Maybe to give me a blessing so that if someone wants to reach out to me, He can let her know I'm listening.

Post by **Vesca** » Sun Mar 08, 2015 12:37 am

Just throwing this out there, food for thought.

There's a term referring to the regions of Russia and other Slavs in an earlier era called "double faith" which basically boils down to the common practice of said communities to say they were Christian, go to church, follow the Christian practices, etc... but still follow their pagan beliefs alongside it. This is more because those who were being converted were being taught by word of mouth (because they were illiterate) and Christianity never really penetrating beyond the superficial at that point. They said and did as they were told to, but they believed in their old ways and eventually they started pasting the faces of Saints over their pagan figures. They sort of melded the two belief systems, is the point.

It's probably not the kind of answer or input you're looking for, and I'm ok with that if it isn't. But just on the off-chance it helps you at some point down the line, I'm mentioning it.

Post by **Seraphin** » Sun Mar 08, 2015 3:37 am

Very good seawitch!

I have a witchy friend here who considered Jesus and Virgin Mary as her spirit guides and at the same time worship Celtic Deities. She would always point out to people who are asking her religion that although her spiritual and religious beliefs did originate in Catholicism, her own philosophy is not any more Catholic than it is Celtic pagan. The core principles of her belief -- the focus on wisdom, understanding and knowledge, in one's service of her spirit community are equally important to her. Today as a follower of Jesus she's also affiliated with the Druidic coven here, she has maintained some of her Christian principles (but didn't identify herself as Catholic Christian anymore) and complemented them with Druidic teachings and traditions.

Indeed, she was asked several times by some Catholics who had adopted some pagan practices whether they should alter their God in favor of the other Deities prevalent amongst paganism. She just responded that there's no reason for them to do so; to the contrary, she advised them to maintain the faith in God, Jesus, Mary and the Holy Spirit.

Everything Under the Moon