This past Sunday was Trinity Sunday, the day that, in many Christian denominations, God's "triune" nature is celebrated. Of course, my reference point is always the Episcopal Church's great Trinity hymns from the 1940 Hymnal: "Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty" (Nicaea), "I Bind Unto Myself Today" (St. Patrick), and my home cathedral's own "Ancient of Days" (Albany).
Attending church on Trinity Sunday over the years, I sometimes almost found it comical how the clergy squirmed in sermons to make sense of this concept of "Three in One and One in Three". Perhaps this started back at the Council of Nicaea (smile)! For the vast majority of us who are not theologians, it is terribly arcane, hard to wrap one's head around. But because I wasn't really a believer, I never agonized over it too much.
However, deep in my heart of hearts, I thought of the Holy Ghost/Spirit as female, and in the wording of the Nicene Creed that I grew up with, it was just barely possible to go there. The third person of the Trinity was "...the Lord, and Giver of Life, Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; Who spake by the Prophets..." When the updated 1980 Book of Common Prayer changed "who" to "he", I was outraged and heartbroken. It seemed like a step backwards. All these years later, there are simply too many sticking points for me to recite either the Nicene or Apostles' Creed (the one future exception might be if I ever attend another Choral Evensong service).
Considering this, it has been quite surprising to begin to find a variation on the old Trinitarian model cropping up in my thoughts of the Goddess! But it falls into place rather neatly:
- Goddess -- the feminine aspect of the Divine Creator, a force that has been overshadowed for countless centuries but I think is reemerging with ways of being that we have long forgotten. This unlimited energy transcends our earth plane, and probably works with the Divine Masculine in ways we still cannot understand...and ultimately, is a combined force beyond gender.
- Mother Earth/Gaia/our earth home -- a "person" in the sense of having autonomy and agency, and thinking and feeling energies. In the face of human abuse of her land, seas, creatures, and resources, she is struggling ever harder to keep herself viable and working.
- The spiritual energy and longings of all women on the planet, all 4 billion of us, no matter what race, religion or background. The deep-held wish for love, peace, beauty, harmony, and safety for children and the environment. Our longing for self-expression, validation and respect.
