-Genesis 1:2


     In the beginning, prior to the arising of stars, planets, and trees, there was the Virgin Mother.  The Mother was not anything; She was not anything at all. She was a formless void shining forth with a darkness that could saturate and devour even the most intense of lights.

     In this formless beginning, where there is no distinction between this and that, I existed in the Virgin.  I existed in Her as a potential waiting to unfold.  Like a little knot, I existed in
Her belly and floated weightless in Her waters.  There, I breathed of Her essence.  I tasted of Her tangy, wet, sweetness.  Just as any man, God or not, can profess being conceived in the
Virgin, then I am being conceived in the Virgin.  When God flowed from the lips of the Virgin, I flowed from those very same lips.  I am the Virgin’s thought made flesh.

    The Great Virgin Goddess of antiquity was known as Mother and Fate.  This is why the terms womb and tomb are so close in construction.  I see these wonderful powers in every human woman.  I see the power of the Mother in the birthing process.  I also see the power of Fate in the act of lovemaking through the woman’s absorption of the man.  The same power that gave us birth devours.  To reflect this return to the womb at death, ancients often buried their loved ones in a fetal position and created tombs that were of similar construction to female
wombs.  I also understand it is sometimes natural for a dying person to curl into a fetal position. There is also a natural tendency to curl into this position during sleep; we all do it. Could it be that we are returning to a womb-like state when enveloped in the warm embrace of night?  Is this the reason it is common for men to have nocturnal erections?  Could it be that a man is in a womb-like place that causes his body to react?

     It is interesting that the Goddess of the beginning and end is universally identified as being black and often called Night.  Even the yin side of the infamous Tao symbol is black to represent femaleness.  Another example of the linkage of female to black is the Orphic Greek Goddess, Nyx, meaning Uncreated Night.  This Goddess was the Mother of Eros, who upon erupting from
His Mother’s egg divided the world into heaven and earth.  The process identified in this Orphic myth is not much different from that of Genesis 1.  The entire second verse of Genesis 1 (see the
heading quote at the beginning of this article) has been identified as being written primarily in the female gender.  For example, the waters or deep were referred to as the feminine Tehom, while
the Spirit moving over the face of those waters was identified as the feminine Ruach.  Ruach, in turn, was identified as the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, Hockmah Binah in Hebrew, or,
in Greek, Sophia Episteme.  Interestingly, Mary is derived from the French Mare, and means Ocean, as evidenced in words like marina, marine, etc.  Could it be that the virgin birth of the
New Testament is a repeat of Genesis: 1?  Could it also be that the Spirit that moved out over the face of Tehom in Genesis also moved over Mary in the Matthew?  Could these be repeats of
the same story?  Is this a timeless variant of a story that we so often take as grounded in time?

      In the third verse of Genesis 1, the Word arises and shouts, “Let there be Light.”  This act then creates a division of light from dark, or, in my terminology, Unmanifest (dark) from Manifest (light).   In human conception, this primordial division is mirrored when the egg absorbs her beloved sperm and then divides into two distinct cells.  According to biological conception,
and the myths of antiquity, the first act of creation is, “let there be distinction.”

      Today we often think the process of Genesis is about a time long ago.   Some say Genesis occurred 10,000 or so years ago.  I say, as many of the ancient mystics say, that Genesis is about a process that is happening now.   Myths are not written just in historical time. They are also written in sacred time.   Sacred time means the processes outlined in myths are occurring always and everywhere.  Watch your dreams one night. They arise out of the depths of your mind (Night) and scream, “let there be light.”  Your dream arises from an impulse (Eros) to be known and dances majestically before you.  Plus, there is the idea of an illusionary division in your dreams.  You are lying there thinking that this character or that character is out to do you harm, make love to you, or guide you along.  This is an illusion.  When it really gets down to the nitty-gritty, all characters are created by you and are teaching you something about yourself.  Each person is a mirror for you to see yourself. Could the waking world also be the same?

      The world is our mirror. I am a man, yet when I gaze upon any woman I am seeing something of myself.  A woman’s genitals fold inward and speak about my inner world. For
example, it is common usage of language to call an idea a concept.  A concept is a conception.  In my psychic womb, I conceive this article. Into what do my thoughts return? They return to the same womb that bore them.  Just as a man is born of a woman’s womb and returns to the womb (in a different manifestation of Woman) as a lover, my thoughts are born and dissolve into the Psyche, or Soul (universally identified as female).  Do my thoughts have a father?  Yes, various experiences, readings, and meditations.  Also, the thoughts born of my mind can serve as fertilizing impulses in their re-absorption.  These are all fertilizing events.  They operate as rain and sun operate on the soils in bringing forth life from the depths of the Earth. In my acts I mirror all of Nature. The entire universe is my mirror.

     The same is true of women looking at men.  How does a woman see herself in a man? He is her fertilizing power. These words, for example, can serve as fertilizer in the conception of a
new way of looking at life. The words that you speak into your children, your spouses, the people you work with, can likewise father insights in them.  They say a man’s desire is to spread his seed around. This is why I love to write!

     What this means is that gender is more than a thing.  It is a process.  It is more of a verb than a noun. The Sufi mystic, Rumi, says woman is not creature; she is creative.  Many think he is making a statement that contrasts with the sexist attitudes of his Middle Eastern culture. I think this may be only part of what he is saying. Indeed, I read the sentence as his saying that femininity is a verb (i.e., creative) more so than a noun (i.e., creature).  I often think that artists like painting women because in them they are seeing something of their creativity.  Perhaps their creative desire is to see something of themselves?  I would even go as far to say that Creativity Herself desires to see Herself. How can Creativity see Herself? She can’t!  This is why She is said to be nothing at all.  Can you see your Creativity?  I bet not.  All you can see are Her productions. Creativity is the process that produces everything. Hence, anything that you might see, including a representation of Creativity, is nothing more than an object created by Her.  However, the object is not Her, though it may mirror Her in function.  Hence, in any object, Creativity sees something  of Herself as if in a mirror!  Children look like their parents. We look like Nature, or God.

      What does this mean to us? It means that we, as women and men, are mirrors of universal process. We are mirrors to each other and reflect Creativity. In us, all is. Just as right becomes
left in a mirror image, the inward folding female becomes the outward jutting male.  We are not here to be antagonistic towards one another.  We are here to learn, to see ourselves and unfold our hidden totality.  The female is the male’s Inner Reality that holds the powers to conceive, birth, sustain and devour. Likewise, the male is the female’s power to fertilize, impregnate, serve as a creative impulse, and probe, or be absorbed into, the Inner Mysteries.  What is meditation anyway?

      It is time that we learn to lovingly bite off the fig leaves covering our essence as women and men.  If we can love each other in a meditative mind and begin seeing the reflection of the Sacred in our bodies, then we can begin to heal.  Even more importantly, we will open our eyes and say, “I am She! Mother Wisdom (Creativity) and I are not two.”  Think of the power that will manifest in your life upon realizing that statement.

Biography

Burl Hall is a master’s level therapist working with chronically mentally ill adults in Northern Virginia.  Burl also works part-time in his own business, Sophia’s Quest, that he uses to conduct workshops and provide consultations to those interested in developing their feelings of spiritual well being.   Burl is a self-published author of Sophia’s Web: Understanding the Unity and Diversity of Religion, Science and Ourselves. This book is available at wholesale prices from http://1stbooks.com. The book may also be purchased through the major on-line bookstores (e.g., amazon.com) or may be ordered through your local bookstore.  You may also order an autographed copy of the book by sending a check or money order for $14.00, made payable to Burl B. Hall, to 6830 Red Rose Village Dr., Fredericksburg, VA 22407.

For more information on Burl’s other writings, including his meditative poetry, visit http://sophiaslove.com.  Within a year, Burl hopes to publish another book containing his meditative poetry.