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The Cosmic Shekinah
The Shekinah is the manifestation of the Wisdom Goddess of the Kabbalah,the Old Testament and Merkavah Mysticism. She encompasses the primordial light of creation, the wisdom of the serpent and the inspiration of the dove. She is the beauty of the lily and the embodiment of the Tree of Life. She is also the World soul, heavenly glory, mother of angels, inspiration for prophecy, and source of souls, as well as being the Shabbat Bride and the wife of God.
In The Cosmic Shekinah the authors present a concise history of the different influences of earlier wisdom goddesses on the development of the Shekinah. These goddesses include the Sumerian Inanna, the Egyptian Ma'at, the Greco-Egyptian Isis, the Semitic Anat and Astarte and the Canaanite Asherah. They show that from these ancient sources the unnamed Wisdom Goddess and wife of God portrayed in the Old Testament and early Jewish wisdom literature arose. It is this unnamed Wisdom Goddess who would subsequently become the source for the development of the Shekinah as well as the Gnostic Sophia.
The influence of the feminine divine as the Shekinah has continued to find expression, with the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit of Christianity and the Sakina of Islam all being shaped by the enduring influence of the Wisdom Goddess. Through tracing her roles, myths and functions the authors show that in addition to her resurgence, the Wisdom Goddess has always been present throughout history, even when she has been suppressed and disguised by deliberate exclusion and mistranslation.
Drawing on numerous sources including medieval Kabbalistic works, Hekhalot texts of Merkavah Mysticism, ancient literature such as the Egyptian, Sumerian and Ugaritic myths, the Old Testament, Gnostic texts and recent finds in Biblical archaeology, The Cosmic Shekinah draws attention back to the light of divine feminine wisdom.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 16, 2011
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181 people want to read
About the author
Sorita d'Este
26 books265 followersSorita d’Este is an author, researcher and priestess who has devoted her life to the Mysteries. She is the author of around 20 books exploring subjects related to the practice and history of magic, mythology, religion, folklore and witchcraft. Her previous books include titles such as Hekate Liminal Rites, Practical Elemental Magick, Visions of the Cailleach, Wicca: Magickal Beginnings and The Isles of the Many Gods. Her latest release is Circle For Hekate: Vol I. She lives on a hill in Glastonbury (Somerset, UK) from where she works as a publisher and writer. She is frequently distracted from her work by her love of gardening, exciting visitors and the promise of interesting esoteric knowledge.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 28, 2011
The divine feminine, it is contained albeit on a quiet level in all three of the major monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, although they are male dominated. In the kabbalistic works of Jewish mysticism this is commonly known as the Shekina, or the divine presence. In gnostic Christianity it is known as Sophia, considered the Goddess of Wisdom. In Islam the Shekina is called Sakina.
THe book traces the very beginning of the feminine divine from the early pagan goddesses of the Middle East all the way to the development of Sophia the Wisdom Goddess. The Hebrew God had a wife. Jewish theology developed from strains of influence stemming from surrounding cultures like the Egyptians, Sumerians and Canaanites. In the Canaanite Pantheon, El , the head Canaanite God had a wife Ashera. In the Hebrew bible God's wife was also called , Ashera.
Ashera would later give way to the Wisdom Goddess. The wisdom Goddess drew from such influences as Isis, Inanna, Maat and Ashera. They were Goddesses who taught mankind wisdom. The Wisdom Goddess would later transform into the Shekhina. The Shekhina drew primarily from the Near Eastern Wisdom Goddess. Many symbol associated with the Shekina were the dove, light, Trees, incense smoke and the burning bush. The Shekina is mentioned several times in Kabbalistic literature. By the way the authors make excellent references to the Kabbalistic literature and Near Eastern Sources.
An examinatination of Jewish sources show that there are two Shekinas, an earthly and a heavenly one. The heavenly Shekina is wrapped around the male counterpart like a blanket of fire. The Earthly Shekina hovers in the earth and is the planets soul. It is the earhtly Shekina that is in exile with the Israelites.
Sophia, the Christian divine prescence drew heavily from Greek, Jewish and other Christian souces in her creation. There was a concept of Gaia ingreek theology that was likened to the soul of the world. The Sophia was often equated with the Holy Spirit, The Virgin Mary and sometimes even Jesus himself.
The divine feminine is considered the mother of angels and planetary forces. The Shekina's role in creation is amply explained in the final part of the book. This final part gives an excellent over view on Kabbalitic mytholgy. This is the first book I have read by Soritia d'Este and David Rankine and I must tell you that I am thoroughly blown away by this book. It is excellent and understandable. I defeinitely plan on reading mkre book by this team of scholars.
The book has excellent sources in their bibliography for further research.. Everything is well documented. They make comparison to other Goddesses and give great background and periphery information. This book get five stars out of five stars.
THe book traces the very beginning of the feminine divine from the early pagan goddesses of the Middle East all the way to the development of Sophia the Wisdom Goddess. The Hebrew God had a wife. Jewish theology developed from strains of influence stemming from surrounding cultures like the Egyptians, Sumerians and Canaanites. In the Canaanite Pantheon, El , the head Canaanite God had a wife Ashera. In the Hebrew bible God's wife was also called , Ashera.
Ashera would later give way to the Wisdom Goddess. The wisdom Goddess drew from such influences as Isis, Inanna, Maat and Ashera. They were Goddesses who taught mankind wisdom. The Wisdom Goddess would later transform into the Shekhina. The Shekhina drew primarily from the Near Eastern Wisdom Goddess. Many symbol associated with the Shekina were the dove, light, Trees, incense smoke and the burning bush. The Shekina is mentioned several times in Kabbalistic literature. By the way the authors make excellent references to the Kabbalistic literature and Near Eastern Sources.
An examinatination of Jewish sources show that there are two Shekinas, an earthly and a heavenly one. The heavenly Shekina is wrapped around the male counterpart like a blanket of fire. The Earthly Shekina hovers in the earth and is the planets soul. It is the earhtly Shekina that is in exile with the Israelites.
Sophia, the Christian divine prescence drew heavily from Greek, Jewish and other Christian souces in her creation. There was a concept of Gaia ingreek theology that was likened to the soul of the world. The Sophia was often equated with the Holy Spirit, The Virgin Mary and sometimes even Jesus himself.
The divine feminine is considered the mother of angels and planetary forces. The Shekina's role in creation is amply explained in the final part of the book. This final part gives an excellent over view on Kabbalitic mytholgy. This is the first book I have read by Soritia d'Este and David Rankine and I must tell you that I am thoroughly blown away by this book. It is excellent and understandable. I defeinitely plan on reading mkre book by this team of scholars.
The book has excellent sources in their bibliography for further research.. Everything is well documented. They make comparison to other Goddesses and give great background and periphery information. This book get five stars out of five stars.
February 19, 2012
This book was a wonderful find! I have since been ordering and reading my way through the books by these two prolific authors and have found their work, especially when working together, to be just wonderful.
What makes The Cosmic Shekinah fantastic is that it is free from the usual conspiracy and conjecture that comes with books on these kinds of subjects. Instead the authors meticulously presents scholarly research in a way people with much less knowledge of the subject can understand and follow, without any signs of dumbing down. d'Este and Rankine assumes that their readers are intelligent - and I like that. A lot.
This book I would recommend very highly to anyone with an interest in the Goddess or the Feminine Divine; as well as people from all religious groups, but especially those who are Christian, Gnostic, Jewish and Pagan. I have recommended it to a Wiccan friend who read it and said afterwards that it made her appreciate the place of the Goddess of Wicca in the greater scheme of things much more and most of all, that reading this book has helped remove some of the misunderstandings she had about Christianity. She said she was now better able to understand and connect with the idea of the Holy Spirit, as well as the Virgin Mary - which gives her common ground when speaking to family who are concerned about her pagan beliefs. Likewise a Gnostic friend of mine commented that this book, though not written from a Gnostic perspective, offers many insights and shared a great deal of knowledge which enhanced her understanding of her own beliefs. I am sure the same will be true for many who read this with an open mind and who approach it with intelligence.
Pieces of a puzzle you are already building, or pieces of a puzzle you are yet to start - either way, highly recommended!
What makes The Cosmic Shekinah fantastic is that it is free from the usual conspiracy and conjecture that comes with books on these kinds of subjects. Instead the authors meticulously presents scholarly research in a way people with much less knowledge of the subject can understand and follow, without any signs of dumbing down. d'Este and Rankine assumes that their readers are intelligent - and I like that. A lot.
This book I would recommend very highly to anyone with an interest in the Goddess or the Feminine Divine; as well as people from all religious groups, but especially those who are Christian, Gnostic, Jewish and Pagan. I have recommended it to a Wiccan friend who read it and said afterwards that it made her appreciate the place of the Goddess of Wicca in the greater scheme of things much more and most of all, that reading this book has helped remove some of the misunderstandings she had about Christianity. She said she was now better able to understand and connect with the idea of the Holy Spirit, as well as the Virgin Mary - which gives her common ground when speaking to family who are concerned about her pagan beliefs. Likewise a Gnostic friend of mine commented that this book, though not written from a Gnostic perspective, offers many insights and shared a great deal of knowledge which enhanced her understanding of her own beliefs. I am sure the same will be true for many who read this with an open mind and who approach it with intelligence.
Pieces of a puzzle you are already building, or pieces of a puzzle you are yet to start - either way, highly recommended!
December 17, 2017
This book is interesting for its vast amount of source material, briefly quoted, yet deeply noted, on the Shekinah as she is mentioned in the Hebrew world both before and after the Bible. You really get a good sense of how the Shekinah was viewed by ancient Hebrews and others. From there, you can see who the Shekinah can be for you. I enjoyed how the authors wanted to stay positive in their portrayals of this ancient goddess, even though sometimes our modern world doesn't allow us to view the goddess as she truly used to be viewed, and you really have to skry in order to see what is and isn't real about the ancient practice of goddess worship. These writers do comment on the source material they quote in particular ways. I feel this book can best be read alongside The Chalice and the Blade for more contextualization.
March 24, 2019
Information is quite intensive. A bit more than I like. I found myself forcing myself into reading it.
Very dry reading.
Very dry reading.
March 16, 2013
Wonderful source of information on the 'cosmic shekinah,' and also a nice introduction to Kabbalah.
Unfortunately the Kindle version is full of typos, some of which lead to apparent grammar errors (which they are not).
Unfortunately the Kindle version is full of typos, some of which lead to apparent grammar errors (which they are not).
December 2, 2014
Interesting read, draws from a lot of sources, shows how the divine feminine permeates all religions and cultures, even if she's currently hidden.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews