Many of us wonder how we might not just face the challenges presenting us today, personally and collectively, but also envision and co-create a more heart-centered paradigm. Really expressing our Divine potential, you might say. Joyfully.
In some sacred teachings and ancient wisdom traditions, we've heard that it takes both a change of mind and foremost, a change of heart.
In the story of the Goddess Sophia, and interpretations of the teachings of the Sophian Mystery Schools, human beings were endowed with certain Divine gifts through which we might unfold and express our Divine potential. The gifts of the Feminine, we might say.
The Sophia story also tells us of certain impediments to consciously recognizing and using our Divine gifts -- the ways these gifts get co-opted, so we end up chasing ultimately unsatisfying simulations rather than the truly satisfying real thing.
I recently talked about this with John Lamb Lash on the Feminine Mojo Show. Lash is a scholar, mystic, and expert on the Sophia myth and Mystery teachings, and the author of Not in His Image: Gnostic Vision, Sacred Ecology, and the Future of Belief.
As I look back over the last several years, I notice that I've had clues of these gifts bubbling up through dreams, visions, guidance during the 'liminal' or in-between times (like when you're just coming out of sleep).
This, in itself, amazes me: how the Wisdom finds its way to us; when we seek Sophia, Sophia meets us.
Sometimes -- at least for me -- it's like receiving puzzle pieces, one at a time, and watching to see what emerges. Understanding the clues and guidance, and then putting into practice...that takes, well, lots of experimentation and practice!
And the Goddess's timeline is often pretty different from my own. Hardly the path of instant gratification for those of us who are impatient for quick answers, or quick changes.
Sophia, in the Way of the Feminine, guides us step by step, helping us to live into the questions and experience and understanding of the answers. That's the essence of gnosis.
This includes answers or guidance about the gifts with which we've been endowed by Sophia. It's like living a 'real time' treasure hunt, an adventurous game of creative inquiry.
So what are these Divine gifts we've been given?
For a good overview, listen to the two Feminine Mojo Show interviews with John Lamb Lash. In the meanwhile, here's a summary, based on my discussion with John, which mirrored back the guidance and insight that's bubbled up through my own initiation or transformation process. That process alone reflects some of the Divine gifts! See if you recognize them yourself.
Divine Intelligence (nous) -- a macro-gift, if you will -- constellates into five elements:
Metanoia: The ability to 'renew your mind' - to go beyond the limits of your current thinking.
Dianoia: Inspired dialogue that sparks new insight and understanding.
Epinoia: Luminous imagination, used consciously.
Ennoia: Conscious intention - the ability to direct or focus our Divine intelligence.
Enthymesis: Heartful desire. What is your true heart's desire? That's the key question.
As we know now, from so many different sources, these are powerful gifts.
Often, we use them in some way every day, but usually in a form dictated or 'co-opted' by culture. We're told what to think and how; we're told what we want, and what we should (and should not) desire; we're even told what we feel (or should and should not feel), usually to reinforce the madness of patriarchal, consumer-oriented culture.
Through the wisdom of the Mystery teachings and the Sophia story -- and interpretations like those shared by John Lash -- we may learn to see these gifts anew, and in recognizing and reclaiming their power, use them more heartfully and consciously to both be and co-create the change we seek.
We'll be exploring these gifts, along with powerful Feminine-Goddess archetypes and other Feminine Wisdom, in the Feminine Mojo Mystery School and other Feminine Mojo Projects, so take a look and participate in the journey.
FeMojo Blessings,
Jamie
Image Credit: Dante Rosetti, Damsel of the Sanct Grail
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