Given that Mary just posted Linda Dillon’s channeling of the Divine Mother on the birth of the universe, or of the world of matter (mater, Mother), it occurs to me that you may enjoy listening to Maura O’Connor describe Rabbi Isaac Luria’s vision of the “birth” of the Divine Mother, which scientists call the birth of the universe.
Luria calls the Mother “God’s first breath.” “Breath” in Latin is spiritus or Spirit. The Divine Mother is the Holy Spirit. (Actually she said once that the Holy Spirit was only a small part of herself so you can imagine how vast she is.)
“Emptiness, what the kabbalists call ayin [God the Father], exists far beyond concepts or language. It is like a pure ether that can never be grasped by the mind. … Emptiness is the ultimate mystery, the secret of the Cause of causes, and it brought everything into being. …
“The absolute nature of this emptiness meant that it was so pervasive, nothing else but it could exist. In order for life to become manifest, a seismic contraction of emptiness in on itself had to occur, creating a space in which divine emanation was possible. …
“Following this immense contraction, God’s first cosmic act was the emission of a single, perfect ray of light. This beam pierced through the void and then expanded in all directions. Think of it as God’s first breath [“spirit” = “breath”] exhaling into the abyss after eons of slumber and filling it with His divinity. This is how the universe was born.” (1)
I never miss a chance to explain the difference between what the ancients describe as “God the Father” (ayin) and “God the Mother” (ruah). The subject is one of the most interesting I know.
By God the Father is meant stillness, emptiness, the Void. It’s still and empty in material terms but it’s very active and full in the flow of non-material love and bliss. By God the Mother, is meant activity, energy, the Creation. Hence her Sanskrit name Shakti, which means energy. God moves and the universe is born. The Mother is all movement.
Both Mother and Father are God alone. God divided itself into two for the purpose of creating the world, so that he could raise “particles” (metaphorical) of himself up from ignorance of their essence to knowledge. The reason why he created this illusory game has been explained fully elsewhere. (2)
Jesus signified a knowledge of this situation when he said, in response to his disciples’ request for a password: “Tell them a movement and a rest.” (3) The Mother is that movement; the Father is that rest.
Of course God is neither male nor female. These distinctions were made by many ancient religions to distinguish between God as stillness and God as movement only. God has no gender.
Footnotes
(1) Maura O’Connor, “A People’s Revolution of Enlightenment: Kabbalah,” What is Enlightenment?, Issue 27, Nov.-Feb. 2004, 86-7.
(2) See “The Purpose of Life is Enlightenment” at https://goldenageofgaia.com/spiritual-essays/16244-2/ and “The Divine Plan for Life” at https://goldenageofgaia.com/spiritual-essays/the-divine-plan-for-life/
(3) A. Guillaumont et al. The Gospel According to Thomas. New York and Evanston: Harper and Row, 1959, 29.
