That wisdom is inherent in all of nature, was undisputed for the pre-Christian, indigenous cultures right across the globe. Ancient stories, folklore and myth, point to such wisdom through trees and rivers who often were given the quality of personhood, plants offering up their wisdom (to those who have the inner senses to perceive) for healing. Then there were the cloud formations, birds, the elements, weather patterns etc., all of which were searched for the signs and guidance that could be perceived by those who had ears to hear and eyes to see.
But such immanent spirituality and the ability to perceive its inherent wisdom were deemed naive, uncultured and also way too dangerous for the incoming power seeking religion. Far better to have a remote god who required an intermediary in the form of a priest so that humans would be divorced from direct experience of the divine and thus easier to control.
And so nature oriented religions and indigenous tribal wisdom were crushed, eliminated and in various ways deemed evil. Those engaging in related activities could expect to be subjected to a variety of punishments on behalf of an angry god, created in the image of the dysfunctional human ego.
Such a violent reaction to nature honouring culture was due in part to the fact that immanent wisdom was most often associated with the feminine aspect of the divine. And this above all was most feared by patriarchal rule.
This tragic, egotistical oppression was profoundly dangerous, the baby was thrown out with the bath water and humankind’s supremacy over nature was sealed along with the dominance of the patriarchy. The rest is history we might say, as we sit here on the brink of global catastrophe, despairing as nature battles with the consequences of all that she has been subjected to.
If ever we are to even begin to turn around this dire position then balance must be restored and divinity must be understood as both immanent and transcendent. An all male godhead is not a whole godhead – the feminine aspect must be returned to her rightful place.
Let’s hear the voice of wisdom now in her own words from the book of Proverbs chapter 8
1 Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?
4 “To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind.
6 Listen …Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold …for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
23 I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water;
25 before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth,
26 before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth.
27 I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
28 when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
29 when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
30 Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence,
31 rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.
32 Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.
35 For those who find me find life
36 But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.”
May we fully awaken to our transgressions that have forsaken wisdom, and may there still be time for us to mitigate and even reverse the foolishness of our ways.
Blessings, Jayne
Lavish Wisdom 