Goddess.

Spirit, what some call God or Buddha nature, Source, Spirit, is infinite, genderless, ineffable, nameless. It, the Self, the I AM, does not care what we call it, for no names can hold it or define it.

We are the ones, who care... and what a lot of names we have come up with!

It is my preference, to call It, "Goddess." You may choose to call it something else; I don't mind. I don't care. You may choose to take issue with my choice of term... I don't care about that, either. What a lot of Holy Wars have been started, over this simple thing: what to call, that which is nameless. I prefer peace.

While reading this site you can substitute "Goddess" in your mind, for whatever term you prefer to use to refer to the Divine. I won't mind at all.

Traditionally, in Hindu texts, the Kundalini Shakti is referred to as a Goddess; Goddess Shakti. In most Kundalini oriented writings, you will find this convention. Kundalini is the Goddess.

Personally, I was raised in a Roman Catholic home, where the Divine was always referred to in masculine terms. The Lord God. I found that this rather distanced me, a female from accepting that the Divine was a part of myself... especially, because my first experience of the Divine was in a powerful lucid dream, at age 2. A vast love and light that said I was its child, whom I identified as my true Mother. It seemed to be under the ground, within the Earth... because leaving it as I awoke, I experienced going through a tunnel. An upward movement.

For many years I did not associate that beautiful Mother Goddess energy, with the church teachings about the distant, righteous Lord God in Heaven. I simply did not make the connection, the God of Christianity seemed a distant, disinterested figure. The church taught that underground, was Hell... it made no sense to me... but I did have the sense to keep my mouth shut about my experience!

Referring to the Divine as feminine, also reminds me every day, that is is me, too. That this feminine body, is a vessel of that. So, my choice of terms, is personal... as such choices always must be. Goddess, is All that Is, including me! Wheee! Joy.

In some Gnostic Christian texts, those that predate the Council of Constantinople, the Holy Spirit is called "God the Mother." Kundalini is often considered a manifestation, or an alternate interpretation of awakening to the Holy Spirit.

When it comes to the interpersonal, I find that when one is in a Patriarchal system, one cannot see the forest for the trees. Many who use the term "God" are not conscious of the cultural, masculine association with it... but it is very pervasive, in the unconscious. As recognizable as Michaelangelo's genesis, the old white bearded male God offering the spark of life, to Adam.

In Tantra, the word for feminine genitalia is "Yoni", and it means "sacred space." The word for penis is Lingham, and it means "Wand of Light."

My own interpretation of Genesis; "In the beginning, there was the Void. (Goddess, the empty womb space where creation occurs) Out of the Void there came a voice (consciousness is the eternal Nothing)), and the voice said "Let there be Light." (Goddess the void creating her consort, God the Light; between them, they created everything else.) People tend to associate God with Light... this may be correct, but Divine Consciousness predated Light, the Light is a manifestation.

Most folks are so focused on the Light, they do not become aware of the nothingness... which for me, is consciousness. The sacred space between the stars, the atoms, the neurons and synapses of your brain. Without space, there is no time or distance. Consciousness and matter, make creation. Consciousness; the nothing spaces, and matter; the Light. Photons, particles and waves.

E=MC² Everything is made of energy, everything is made of light, and consciousness; the organizing principle. The spaces between

The term "Goddess", is functional in how it changes one's thinking and identifications. A conscious choice to refer to the Divine as feminine, brings the masculine cultural associations into focus, so that they can be surrendered... clearing the masculine associations of Divinity from the unconscious.

A conception of the Divine as an unconditionally loving Mother, can be useful for releasing the intimidating concepts of the judgmental, righteous angry Father God on his lofty throne... a difficult conceptualization to reconcile with the realized "Self" concept of the Divine being the true nature of us mortal, fragile, fallible human beings. Moving from one gender polarization to the other, eventually leads to the middle path... the genderless, formless, Self, that is Realized through the spiritual evolutionary process.

When my mother asked me why I speak of Goddess, I told her that Goddess is essentially the same as the Christian concept of the Virgin Mary. There are sculptures of the Mother Goddess Kali, older than Christian concepts, but she is dressed the same, in white and blue, with the Kundalini Serpent underfoot. Her own mother often appealed to Mary, so she felt comfortable with that association.

There is a difference, of interpretation. Shakti is often depicted standing on Shiva, because She is dominant, but also because he is the ground she springs from, like the images of Aphrodite on a clamshell, born of the sea. Water is symbolic of spiritual energy, in dreams. Mary springs from the Serpent. Kundalini, the Source.

From an historical, evolutionary viewpoint, Matriarchy long predates Patriarchy. The oldest idols are feminine, the most ancient tombs are womb shaped. Birth and death, a cycle. Birth, and the mysteries of menstruation are the oldest miracles. In nature, creation springs from the feminine... as the Wiccan chant goes,

I know the Divine is genderless, infinite, nameless and formless... but how do we talk about what is nameless? We need words, terms and labels. "Goddess", just feels right, to me. It calls to my Celtic roots.

I'm not attached to the term. In session, I usually ask my clients what term they prefer, and use that... though I may slip sometimes and say Goddess, anyway, out of habit. When reading this website, use whatever term you prefer. Blessings!