Which god would you most like to date?

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[Sperran]

Personally I wouldn't have any inclination toward dating a god.  Something bad always happens, like being granted eternal life but not eternal youth, or being turned into a cow, or being eternally pregnant or the like.  Too much risk if the thing ends up on the rocks.

Sperran

[Dania]

I've tried testing the limits of this contact, and I find that a) It's not direct. There can be definite interference "on the line". I have received answers which are inconsistent with Scripture and/or plain reason.

The interference you get can be due to your own mental 'filters' and it can go both ways. You can hear something that you WANT to hear, or not hear something that you don't want to hear. You can have trouble hearing anything at all because you have doubt in your mind that blocks your ability to make contact.

It could also be due to an outside entity...but usually, I've found, the 'interference' is in my own mind.

It's also possible that an entity will tell you the wrong thing as a test. It does happen (and as a side note, never ask Loki "left or right". Just don't do it. You'll wind up a mile in the wrong direction at least before you figure it out. ) and sometimes the point of it is to see if you are intelligent, confident, or brave enough to say "no that's not right".

I tend not to work as much with entities that tend to do this...it's just not something I'm comfortable with, due to past experience. But some will do it.

Secondly, b) Except in VERY RARE instances, it does not provide me with information that I do not have on my own.

This also points to "mental filter" to me. I had that problem for years, and still do, on occasion. I have a hard time believing that I will get any new information, so I just don't HEAR the new information.

I have to come up with the ideas on my own—so if and when I am wrong (and I've been spectacularly wrong at times), I blame no one but myself.

This is a very good thing, anyway. Whether you are given wrong information or not, it's still your responsibility if you follow it. If the information was wrong you are less responsible, but you are still responsible.

That's the viewpoint I take with all of my interactions, human and otherwise. I choose what influence I want to allow into my life.

[dpixie]

You're moving in on my girlfriend?


So help me, I'm not making a word of this up.

This is a beautiful and wonderful experience.  I am so interested in how it all comes out...

And from my side of things:

As a child I had - not an imaginary friend, but a male character in many of the mental stories I made up to entertain myself (I was always a writer, eh?) I knew just how he acted, what he looked like, etc.  I grew up, never wrote any of those stories down or used them (huh, I should, some of them weren't too bad )

But when I was 29 I met that boy.

And when I was 30, I married him. 

Interesting note - he is 8 years younger than I - so about the time I began envisioning him, he was born.
Also, I've had several dreams that lead me to believe that 1) he was my wife in two earlier incarnations, and 2) at least one of the main purposes of my life this time is to take care of him and support him so that he can do - whatever it is his purpose is. 

I don't know that I buy the whole "soulmate" thing - but I do think that we were "destined" to be together insomuch that our karma is wound together, and our love is obviously strong enough that it has lasted more than one lifetime. 

I also met  him during a period of my life when I had decided I didn't want any committed relationships ever again.  (LOL - famous last words)

And come to think of it - you know I said I'd like to date my favorite Trickster Kokopelli....well, I have to say that deep in his heart, my little hubby is a trickster.

[ehbowen]

If you are interested in this aspect of the Divine, I would recommend that you do some research on the Shekinah.  The Shekinah is alternately described as a feminine aspect of God and as the bride of God.  One of her aspects is often thought to be the spirit of wisdom that you mention. 

Thank you for the recommendation, although I'm not really sure where to start looking. It's not mentioned in Scripture and I'm not familiar with non-Scriptural references.

When we talked in Orlando, Jessica (that's the name she gave) mentioned her family briefly. She talked about her parents (plural), about her six sisters (of whom she was the youngest of seven), and about her only brother, the firstborn ("He runs the family business," she said).

Putting the pieces together afterward, I have to conclude that Jessica and her sisters are the Seven Spirits of God from Revelation (1:4, 4:5, 5:6), that her eldest brother is none other than Jesus Christ himself, and that her parents are the Father and a hitherto unknown divine and feminine being (possibly linked to the Shekinah you mention). This would mean that the Trinity (a word which, AFAIK, does not appear in the Bible) is in fact a unit of ten personalities, not three—the "Holy Spirit" is apparently a corporate name for the eight distaff members of the Godhead.

Most theologians, in my experience, are not willing to get near this with a ten foot pole, and I can't say I entirely blame them. But part of it has been staring us in the face for the past two thousand years; doesn't the presence of a Father and of a begotten Son argue for the presence of a Mother? (And I'm not talking about Mary; while she gave birth to Jesus's human body virtually all theologians I know of agree that the Son existed in spirit prior to the incarnation; back to the beginning of time, in fact.) And while I don't know Greek, I understand from those who do that Jesus was careful to use only neutral pronouns in referring to the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit; the masculine pronouns were only used by the Apostles after his death.

That's my take on it, at least. I will say this: If I'm right, then I'm very right; if I'm wrong, then I'm VERY wrong. No in-betweens on this one!

[Mandi]

Personally I wouldn't have any inclination toward dating a god.  Something bad always happens, like being granted eternal life but not eternal youth, or being turned into a cow, or being eternally pregnant or the like.  Too much risk if the thing ends up on the rocks.

Sperran

Ditto.  Relationships are complicated enough without adding the power plays of divinity to them.

[Sperran]

Thank you for the recommendation, although I'm not really sure where to start looking. It's not mentioned in Scripture and I'm not familiar with non-Scriptural references.

Some of the Biblical references are rather oblique, but I can give you places to start.  A lot of references to the Shekhinah are in Jewish extra-Biblical Scripture such as the Talmud (written version of the oral law) and the Zohar (a text from the mystical tradition).  Other names for essentially the same concept include Malkhut and Binah.  The spirit of the Shekhinah has many aspects and can appear in different ways (like God appeared as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night when He traveled with Moses to the Holy Land).  One could easily write an entire book on a single aspect, so I'm going to provide an overview of a few of the aspects and hopefully that will point you in the right direction.  I am by no means an expert on the topic, but am currently taking a course that covers aspects of the Shekhinah. 

Beginning, there is the spirit of Wisdom (Hokmah in Hebrew, Sophia in Greek) in Proverbs 8:22-31 to which you alluded.  A lot of explication on this idea comes from the Jewish philosopher Philo.  One text you might try looking at for more details and other resources is Wisdom Has Built Her House:  Studies on the Figure of Sophia by Silvia Schroer.

She is also personified as the Maiden Zion (2 Kings 19:21-28) and Mother Zion (Jer 15:9 and Isiah 66:.  You can also find additional references to this in the apocryphal text of 4 Ezra. 

There are also references to the Shekhinah as the bride of God, a feminine aspect of God, the Sabbath bride, the daughter of God, and others.  While there are some Biblical references to these aspects, again, they are often oblique (e.g. Ps 45:14).  The most detailed references to these things are in the Zohar.  Reading the Zohar is very complicated; the text is quite dense and layered so if you turn to the Zohar directly for information, you might consider trying to contact a local rabbi or Jewish scholar for assistance in understanding.  If that isn't a possibility, be very careful when choosing reference texts that explain the Zohar, because a lot of the Kabbalistic sources you find currently are New Age crap. 

Here are some sources listed in my textbook.  I haven't read these, but the author is a well-known Jewish scholar so they should be pretty solid:

On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead by Gershom Scholem
Origins of Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem
Daughter, Sister, Bride and Mother:  Images of the Femininity of God in the Early Kabbala by Peter Schaefer
Bride, Spouse, Daughter by Arthur Green
The Early Kabbalah edited by Joseph Dan

is in fact a unit of ten personalities, not three—the "Holy Spirit" is apparently a corporate name for the eight distaff members of the Godhead.

Again, this falls in line with Kabbalistic thinking.  Do some research on the 10 sefirot, which are 10 aspects of the Divine.  You might also see this referred to as the Tree of Life...a diagram that contains all 10 sefirot.  Each aspect represents elements of the Divine such as wisdom, power, grace, and splendor and so forth.

Hope this is helpful for you.  Let me know if you need additional pointers.  I'm certainly not much of a scholar, but do have access to folks that know a lot about this sort of thing.

Sperran

[wisdomsbane]

Some of the Biblical references are rather oblique, but I can give you places to start.  A lot of references to the Shekhinah are in Jewish extra-Biblical Scripture such as the Talmud (written version of the oral law) and the Zohar (a text from the mystical tradition).  Other names for essentially the same concept include Malkhut and Binah.  The spirit of the Shekhinah has many aspects and can appear in different ways (like God appeared as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night when He traveled with Moses to the Holy Land).  One could easily write an entire book on a single aspect, so I'm going to provide an overview of a few of the aspects and hopefully that will point you in the right direction.  I am by no means an expert on the topic, but am currently taking a course that covers aspects of the Shekhinah. 

Beginning, there is the spirit of Wisdom (Hokmah in Hebrew, Sophia in Greek) in Proverbs 8:22-31 to which you alluded.  A lot of explication on this idea comes from the Jewish philosopher Philo.  One text you might try looking at for more details and other resources is Wisdom Has Built Her House:  Studies on the Figure of Sophia by Silvia Schroer.

She is also personified as the Maiden Zion (2 Kings 19:21-28) and Mother Zion (Jer 15:9 and Isiah 66:.  You can also find additional references to this in the apocryphal text of 4 Ezra. 

There are also references to the Shekhinah as the bride of God, a feminine aspect of God, the Sabbath bride, the daughter of God, and others.  While there are some Biblical references to these aspects, again, they are often oblique (e.g. Ps 45:14).  The most detailed references to these things are in the Zohar.  Reading the Zohar is very complicated; the text is quite dense and layered so if you turn to the Zohar directly for information, you might consider trying to contact a local rabbi or Jewish scholar for assistance in understanding.  If that isn't a possibility, be very careful when choosing reference texts that explain the Zohar, because a lot of the Kabbalistic sources you find currently are New Age crap. 

Here are some sources listed in my textbook.  I haven't read these, but the author is a well-known Jewish scholar so they should be pretty solid:

On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead by Gershom Scholem
Origins of Kabbalah by Gershom Scholem
Daughter, Sister, Bride and Mother:  Images of the Femininity of God in the Early Kabbala by Peter Schaefer
Bride, Spouse, Daughter by Arthur Green
The Early Kabbalah edited by Joseph Dan


Again, this falls in line with Kabbalistic thinking.  Do some research on the 10 sefirot, which are 10 aspects of the Divine.  You might also see this referred to as the Tree of Life...a diagram that contains all 10 sefirot.  Each aspect represents elements of the Divine such as wisdom, power, grace, and splendor and so forth.

Hope this is helpful for you.  Let me know if you need additional pointers.  I'm certainly not much of a scholar, but do have access to folks that know a lot about this sort of thing.

Sperran

I hope you don't mind if I add this.  As Sperran said all of that informatio can be found in qaballistic (sp?...  there are at least half a dozen spellings I've seen of the term, and I'm sure there are more that I haven't) texts.  Not the ones used by ceremonial magic, but the actual Jewish mystic system (both mention these things, but what you are looking for would be more likely found, in a more accurate way, in the Jewish religious sect's writings).  So, Ehbowen, my recommendation would be to look up Jewish Qaballah (usually a search engine will ferret out even those items which have the alternative spellings I mentioned before).

Actually this sounds like it could be very interesting to look into.  Maybe a topic devoted to this subject.

[wisdomsbane]

Caveat: If your god or gods would take it amiss for you to talk about them in a joking manner, then you know what to do. Also, if your god or goddess is jealous god, you probably aught to pick him or her, just for safeties sake.

My pick would be Athena. Fierce, smart, logical, dexterous with her fingers. Supposedly a virgin, but that might just be old fashioned speak for lesbian.

For me it would be Apollo.  Good looking (hot? ), athletic, intelligent.

[AIONIA]

I think anyone who knows me well will know who I would kidnap and keep in my closet.

[Hannibal]

Caveat: If your god or gods would take it amiss for you to talk about them in a joking manner, then you know what to do. Also, if your god or goddess is jealous god, you probably aught to pick him or her, just for safeties sake.

My pick would be Athena. Fierce, smart, logical, dexterous with her fingers. Supposedly a virgin, but that might just be old fashioned speak for lesbian.

 Okay I gotta say that if i had any right to choose that i would try to date, and if she can here me this is all in good fun, it would be Sekhmet. Something about the power tyo slay humans by the hundreds and drink twice her weight in beer appeals to me.

             -The one andfonly Hannibal

[Valkyriia]

Caveat: If your god or gods would take it amiss for you to talk about them in a joking manner, then you know what to do. Also, if your god or goddess is jealous god, you probably aught to pick him or her, just for safeties sake.

My pick would be Athena. Fierce, smart, logical, dexterous with her fingers. Supposedly a virgin, but that might just be old fashioned speak for lesbian.

I'd have to go with Ares. I know some of you think I'm crazy. I doubt he would consent to being stuffed into my closet, the thing is a black hole.
 And possibly Lugh......

[ladywhitewolf]

Caveat: If your god or gods would take it amiss for you to talk about them in a joking manner, then you know what to do. Also, if your god or goddess is jealous god, you probably aught to pick him or her, just for safeties sake.

My pick would be Athena. Fierce, smart, logical, dexterous with her fingers. Supposedly a virgin, but that might just be old fashioned speak for lesbian.

For a relationship I would choose Odin.  I'm fascinated by him.

[Cassius23]

Caveat: If your god or gods would take it amiss for you to talk about them in a joking manner, then you know what to do. Also, if your god or goddess is jealous god, you probably aught to pick him or her, just for safeties sake.

 I would prefer Tara because of the whole infinite compassion and fully accomplished Buddha thing.

However, I seem to end up with Eris more often than not.  As I haven't been a true Discordian in a number of years, I have no idea why.  And neither moths nor glitter work as far as distractions.

Lates
Cassius23

[dethas]

Caveat: If your god or gods would take it amiss for you to talk about them in a joking manner, then you know what to do. Also, if your god or goddess is jealous god, you probably aught to pick him or her, just for safeties sake.

Not only is my god a jealous god, but we already have something of an arrangement!

Hades every time.

[rob44784]

Putting the pieces together afterward, I have to conclude that Jessica and her sisters are the Seven Spirits of God from Revelation (1:4, 4:5, 5:6), that her eldest brother is none other than Jesus Christ himself, and that her parents are the Father and a hitherto unknown divine and feminine being (possibly linked to the Shekinah you mention). This would mean that the Trinity (a word which, AFAIK, does not appear in the Bible) is in fact a unit of ten personalities, not three—the "Holy Spirit" is apparently a corporate name for the eight distaff members of the Godhead.

I have always believed in the feminine divine.  I never said anything about it at church, especially while giving a lesson because our church even had a problem with women speaking at church and having authority over men.  Anyway, I always thought that the Holy Spirit filled that role.  What if the seven spirits are then under the Holy Spirit (either part of, or in some way children of)?

My whole reasoning for there being a feminine divine is simple:  God made Adam in his image, right?  Where did he get the characteristics for Eve?  Perhaps he was being creative, but it just seems to make more since that the Holy Spirit is the feminine divine.

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