Free The Path of a Christian Witch by Adelina St. Clair Page A

suitable pronoun that is genderless and that could be suitable for a personal encounter with God. Most pronouns that negate gender, such as it , are impersonal and denote a notion of inferiority. This forces us to use a gender-specific pronoun when speaking of God, who has traditionally been referred to as male. As I opened my eyes and ears, I became aware of subtle changes. I heard “Our Father” become “Our Parent.” Somehow, that did not resonate with me. I could not conceive of a genderless God. Regardless of where this trend will take our worship, our initial problem seems solved: God is not male.
    It was the Goddess I was looking for, the essence of fertility and abundance, the rage and fury, life and death . . .
Was there room for her in my Christian practice? It has always seemed clear to me that for a child to grow physically and morally, she or he needs a father figure and a mother figure. A logical correlate to this statement is that to grow spiritually, humans also need a mother and a father deity figure. Different denominations of Christianity have dealt with this issue in various ways. In the Catholic faith, the devotion to Mary is very much alive. The imposing cathedrals and shrines in her honor, the ritual prayers of devotion, and the pilgrimages to the locations of her many sightings make Mary a goddess in everything but name. In practice, she is treated as a goddess. Her assumption into heaven, body and soul, demonstrates her status above the human condition.
    Mary as a Goddess
    Mary has always been at the center of a debate. Cast away by some and adulated by others, there is no doubt that she fascinates and compels us more than we can explain. She is the Triple Goddess par excellence: the Maiden, Mother, and Crone all wrapped up in one splendid figure. But aside from her beatific, virginal depiction, she is as deep and complex as any woman. And she has grown with us for over two thousand years.
    The lore that surrounds Mary reaches back to before her own birth. Joachim and Anne, being advanced in age, had given up hope of having children. When Anne unexpectedly became pregnant, she dedicated her unborn child to the service of God. And so it was that Mary was presented to the temple as a child, dedicated from the start to serve God. She received the great honor of weaving the temple veil, an honor reserved for very few. When she became of age, it is said that the temple priests searched for a worthy widower to take her in and make her his wife. Joseph was selected by the temple priests, and they were promised to each other.
    The rest of the story is contained in the Gospels. While still unmarried, Mary received the visit of the angel Gabriel, who announced that she was to bear the child of God through the intercession of the Holy Spirit. And so it was. She gave birth to a son, Jesus, who would change our world forever.
    Throughout the Gospels, we see Mary as a woman of humility and complete devotion. She sees all and “keeps these things in her heart.” [6] She is the only one who truly understands the scope of her son’s mission on Earth. She understands his power, she understands his sacrifice, and always she is silently present. She is the absolute mother. She has the humility and faith to put her sadness and heart-rending pain aside for the sake of the work her son has to do. Yet she does not turn away. She does not crumble under the pain of seeing her son persecuted and killed. She stands at his every step. She is always there.
    Mary has permeated our cultural consciousness throughout the years, and her image is ever changing. In the Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, the Theotokos , or bearer of God, is central to devotion. [7] The icons of the Virgin are holy relics and have been repeatedly graced with miraculous events. In Poland, the cult of the Black Madonna is a centerpiece of nationalistic and religious practice. Many depictions have been rendered of the Madonna with a dark