Sophia - Lady Wisdom

Today is Friday, August 17th, and it is the feast day of St. Sophia. Ah, but not according your saints calendar?  No matter. It is according to the Gnostics - yeah, those damn heretics are still around.  Let me tell you about this wonderful Lady. She is the representative of the Feminine Divine in the Bible. Her name is all over the Old Testament and occasionally in the New.

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There are quite a few names that are used for her. Some of them you might have heard before, but in reference to someone else: Holy Spirit, Queen of Heaven, Shekinah, Star of the Sea, Creator, Divine Mother, Lady Wisdom, Chochma, Bride of God.  The ancient Jews revered  Holy Wisdom, but they called her Chochma (hock-ma) or Hochma. She was the Divine Companion of YHWH.  Together, they created everything,

When Solomon built the first temple in Jerusalem, She was there. In the Old Testament, She can be found in the Wisdom literature and Proverbs, among other places.

   When God set the heavens in place - I was there.

When God fixed the sea's horizon - I was there.

When God made firm the sky and set the fountains that feed the sea;

When God bound the ocean with shore, and the sand with sea - I was there.

Proverbs 8:27-29

She honors Her noble birth

by living with God who loves Her.

She is an initiate in divine knowledge,

and a partner in all God's works.

Wisdom of Solomon 8:4

Look at the picture above. Yes, it's the one painted by Michaelangelo on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. It's very famous and has something quite interesting in it if you look at it long enough. God is in the middle with His arm outstretched to Adam's hand. But look at God's other arm. It's draped over the shoulders of a beautiful woman! That is Sophia, Wisdom, Hochma. 

So raise a glass to Sophia and tell Her. "Thank you!". She has always been there, but you just didn't know it.

To be continued.......