4 November 03
Sophia: Living Wisdom
I spent Saturday at a women’s retreat exploring Sophia, the embodiment of wisdom in the Hebrew bible and New Testament (and well suppressed over the centuries) but also present in similar form in many traditions. Or so I’m told: this was all very new to me. The speaker was Ann Denham, who explained how Sophia is being reclaimed by feminist theologians and thinkers, both Christian and Jewish.
Attributes of Sophia include the cosmic divine wisdom, spoken of by the mystic Hildegard of Bingen; the shekhinah, the spirit of god present among us, a sister, a midwife, and a prophet; and as Lover, eros, the mother, bride, and queen, the source of creativity and erotic energy.
A divine feminine image like this is definitely more interesting for me, at least, than some others we might be asked to swallow, and we spent the afternoon session working on soul collages of wisdom—of Sophia. Mine, pictured at left (click for a larger version), revolves around she-coyotes, wily and nurturing, full of power and stealth; it reclaims the apple and exalts it; it delights in the pair as well as in solitary power. It swims through the cosmos, providing the life force and creative drive.
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Thanks for the link and info re Sophia. My three year old niece who was here over Halloween has been given this name. I hadn’t looked into the meaning of the name before but I’ve sent the info on to my bro – it’s good to have some extending stories about a name – which are positive!