Of God and Goddesses

Of God and Goddesses:

Some people have said to me, “God is a man.” I wholeheartedly agree and respond, “Yes, He is.”

Other people have said to me, “God is a woman.” Once again, I wholeheartedly agree and respond, “Yes, She is.”

The only problem I encounter is when I give both responses at the same time to the same person. Then suddenly that person will say, “Well, that can't be right. God is either a man or a woman. God can't be both.”

As I see it, my friend, God can indeed be both male and female, all at the same time. “How can that be so?”, you might ask. Well, think of the word, “God”, as a surname or a last name. If God is used as a surname or family name, then it is perfectly possible to have Mr. God and Mrs. God; yet, they both are God.

Or, think of the word “God” as if it were a title, such as the title “President.” If God is the President of the family business, then it's not too much of a stretch to imagine God's spouse as the Vice-President of the family business.

Here's the reality when it comes to Gods: they come in pairs, male and female, husband and wife, Mother and Father. Any time you encounter a God, you are actually dealing with a male and female pair who have been married together in every sense of the word. These ideas make some people uncomfortable, but they make good legitimate sense if one were to think about it logically and rationally. We were created in God's image, male and female, which means that God is both male and female, husband and wife, Father and Mother.

The Hebrew word for God is “Elohim”. It means Gods. It's plural. Some translate it as the Council of the Gods. However, Elohim is not just a collection of bachelors, or an exclusive fraternity, or a bunch of gay dudes sitting around planning everything, because that interpretation for the word Elohim makes no practical or realistic sense whatsoever. Yes, Elohim means Gods, but it means Mother and Father, husband and wife, male and female, Mr. and Mrs. God. Uncomfortable yet? Alas, this reality of the male and female nature of God has many other uncomfortable but logical ramifications, which can be interesting to consider nonetheless.

During my life and within my religion, people have periodically suggested that the Holy Ghost is a God, or a member of the Godhead. The Holy Ghost has sometimes been described as a spirit personage (or a personage of spirit). In the past, some people have said that the Holy Ghost is a man. I have responded, “Yes, He is.” Other people have said that the Holy Ghost is female; and, I have at times felt eager to respond and say, “Yes, She is.” But, how is that possible? How can the Holy Ghost be both male and female at the same time? Well, if the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit who has achieved Godhood as a spirit; and, if every God comes as a male and female pair, then it makes logical sense to me that there is a Mr. Holy Ghost and a Mrs. Holy Ghost, in order for them both to be Gods. Thus, the Holy Ghost is a spirit personage, male and female, husband and wife, which would in reality make them personages of spirit and members of the Godhead.

This could also mean that the spirit children, of God the Father and Goddess the Mother, who achieve Godhood before mortality are married or sealed together as husband and wife, as a part of their achieving Godhood. Mr. Holy Ghost would have the priesthood and would be in charge of presiding over the whole “Holy Ghost family business”, coordinating everything with the other Male Gods. Mrs. Holy Ghost or Wisdom would be in charge of giving birth or rebirth to our spirituality and overseeing the creation of eternal life within us. Under this scenario, the words “Holy Ghost” would denote a surname, or a title, or a family business. They are in The Spirit business, or the spirituality business.

Now, let's touch upon another uncomfortable idea. In the religion that I have associated with most of my life, people have periodically taught me that Jesus Christ was a God before being born here into mortality. In other words, Jesus Christ was the God Jehovah before he was born of Mary. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said to the Jews, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” The Jews interpreted this to mean, “Before Abraham was born, I was the God Jehovah.” When Jesus told them that He was the God Jehovah or the God of Israel in the pre-mortal realms, the Jews considered it blasphemy and tried to stone Jesus, but He somehow gave them the slip. This is a concept that many people have missed; but, the Bible is about the same God. The Old Testament is about the God Jehovah, and the New Testament is about the God Jesus Christ; and, they are one and the same God. For supporting proof of this idea, look up look up the many different books and speeches by Dr. Margaret Barker, a Methodist minister; or, look up “Jesus Christ, Jehovah” in the Topical Guide of the LDS version of the King James Bible. The net conclusion will be the same. Jesus Christ was the God Jehovah and Jesus Christ was a God before He was born here on this earth into a mortal body. By the same reasoning, Christ Jehovah was the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, and He is the God of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Mormons also believe that Christ Jehovah is the same God spoken of and presented in “The Book of Mormon another Testament of Jesus Christ”, and the same God that spoke to Joseph Smith as presented in the book “The Doctrine and Covenants”. It's all the same person or the same God.

Therefore, if it is true that the Gods come in pairs, male and female, and if it is true that Jesus Christ was the God Jehovah before being born here into mortality, then it would seem logical to me to assume that Jesus Christ or Jehovah was married to a female spirit in the pre-mortal realms of Heaven in order to become a God. A God without a Goddess at His side would cease to be God or would cease to be a God. Family is a God's family business. Furthermore, let me mention that this is an idea that is developed abundantly in Dr. Margaret Barker's “Temple Theology” books and in “The Academy for Temple Studies” videos online. The Divine Feminine and the “Male and Female Nature of God” are concepts that interest me greatly, and clearly I am not alone. The possibilities abound.

Likewise, if Jesus Christ is the literal physical Son of God the Father, then it has been logical for many of us to assume and believe that Jesus' mother, Mary, is one of God the Father's wives or was married to God the Father before Jesus was conceived.

Now, what about Jesus Christ, the mortal God who was able to die if he so chose? Take a deep breath, because this starts to get interesting, if not uncomfortable, for some. According to Jewish traditions and laws, a male was considered to be a miscreant and troublemaker if he wasn't married by his early twenties. Since the Pharisees and scribes were looking for any reason to denounce Jesus and discredit his message, they would have quickly latched onto Jesus' unmarried status and used it against him, if Jesus had been a celibate bachelor at the age of thirty. So, we can logically and safely assume that Jesus Christ was married during his mortal ministry to a real live woman. So, who was this woman? The most logical assumption is Mary Magdalene. Why did the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ appear to Mary Magdalene first, after His resurrection? It's because His relationship with her superseded or surpassed His relationship with the Twelve Apostles. What kind of relationship can be greater than a Church bond or a Priesthood bond? A marriage between a man and a woman, a husband-wife relationship, would be the appropriate answer. Why was Mary Magdalene alone searching the Tomb Garden for the body of Christ when all other women had gone home? It's because she was his wife and had direct responsibility for taking care of his deceased body.

Of course, this brings up another very uncomfortable idea, for some people. Mary Magdalene didn't necessarily have to be the same person as Jesus' pre-mortal wife. Also, it's technically possible that Jesus Christ could have had more than one wife during mortal life, although it's much harder to support such a claim. I have been led to believe that the Jewish scribes had put an end to polygamy as the societal norm or the traditional norm by the time that Jesus was born, although polygamy was widely practiced and documented at the beginning of Israel's history.

According to many different women that I have encountered during my life, the claim has been made that more women are going to the Third Heaven or the highest degree of Heaven than men. That's what I have been told. Therefore, if the Gods are married pairs, male and female, and more female Goddesses go to heaven than male Gods, then the inescapable conclusion is that some of the male Gods will have more than one female wife there in Heaven in the afterlife, especially if every Goddess who goes to Heaven is given the opportunity to become the mother of children of her own.

In the religion that I have associated with, there is periodic, hushed, silenced talk of a Mother in Heaven. Then the questions come up, “Why don't we talk more about Mother in Heaven? Who is she? What is she like? What is her role?” One time I responded instinctively, “If we are going to talk about Mother in Heaven, which one are we going to talk about?” That comment brought forth an unpleasant response or audible gasp, from some people present. Alas, I believe that each person here on this earth has the exact same Heavenly Father; but, I believe that it is possible that your Heavenly Mother might in fact be a different person than my Heavenly Mother. It seems perfectly logical to me to assume that the African nations have a different Heavenly Mother than the one the Oriental nations have. It seems logical to me that the Caucasians have a different Heavenly Mother than the Hispanics, Hindus, Asians, and American Indians do. The Muslims might have a different Heavenly Mother than the Judea-Christians have; and, so forth. At The Academy for Temple Studies, they are trying to bring Heavenly Mother out of the closet and into the mainstream.

To support many of these ideas, we take Father Abraham and Jacob (or Israel) as our earthly examples, templates, or prototypes. They are a type of things to come. Both Abraham and Jacob were given the assignment to become fathers of nations. Likewise, we can safely conclude that God the Father is also a Father of Nations. So, if you are a nation builder or have been given the task of siring nations, what is the best way to go about that task? Well, let's think about it from the woman's point of view. If the goal that the female Goddesses have set for themselves is to produce, nurture, and raise one trillion spirit offspring during the next ten billion years, would you like to be the only female assigned to that task and have to accomplish that all by yourself? Or, would you rather share the task with a thousand other sister wives and only be responsible for carrying, bearing, and raising one billion children of your own? Think about it logically and rationally. It's about the females and what's best for the females, whenever it comes time to go about the monumental task that the Goddesses have set for themselves.

Likewise, let's now take this scenario down to our mortal realm. If you were Rachel, Jacob's favorite wife, would you like to have the responsibility to carry, birth, and nurture all twelve tribes of Israel; or, would you rather share the load with your sister wives? In fact, apocrypha and folklore have Abraham's wife Sarah, Isaac's wife Rebekah, and Jacob's wife Rachel as tiny, petite, lithe, pretty women – the kind of women that are fun to be around, but the kind of women that have a tendency to die during childbirth or have the tendency to be sterile. Rachel died giving birth to her second son. There's no way that Rachel could have given birth to all twelve of the tribes of Israel. In order to build the nation of Israel, it was necessary for Jacob to have more than one wife. His wife, Leah, was every bit as important to the plan as Rachel was, if not more so.

The joke is that Leah was so ugly that she had to wear a bag over her head on her wedding night so that Jacob could perform his manly duties. I imagine the reality to be slightly different, though. I visualize the mature Leah as a strong, healthy, sturdy woman with wide child-bearing hips – a vital work-horse of a woman – just the kind of woman and wife you would want to have if you are trying to create a nation. Leah took the whole mothering thing seriously, too. Plain or pretty really doesn't matter, because Leah apparently had what it took to become a mother of nations. I visualize Leah periodically approaching Jacob and saying to him, “Tonight is my night. You promised.”; and, then Jacob reluctantly but dutifully fulfilling his assignment. Leah was necessary, to keep Jacob on task. Jacob couldn't have done the job without her. In fact, if you read between the lines, it was Leah who was really running the show and building the nation of Israel, with Jacob only periodically being called upon to perform his manly duties and nothing more. Leah had a vision, and Jacob simply went along for the ride. Some of this stuff can be humorous, if we choose to see it that way.

At times, I have wondered if Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother still have to change diapers. If they do, then that's a lot of do-do. I imagine that they shovel it all into Hades or Outer Darkness.

If a man, or a God, is going to build a nation or nations, he is going to have to have a wife. Bachelorhood, celibacy, and homosexuality are impotent, unproductive, powerless, pointless, and nonsensical where nation-building is concerned. If you are going to build a nation, celibacy and homosexuality are completely worthless towards that goal. If a man is going to build nations, he is going to need a wife; and, the more wives he has, the easier the task will be for all concerned. Abraham became a father of nations; but, it required three wives to accomplish the task. Whether you are talking about Abraham or Jacob, in each case, it was the first wife who assigned additional wives to her husband in order to get the task of nation-building done in a timely fashion. Let's face it; when it comes to nation-building, the male has the easier job, no doubt about it; but, it's the woman who sets the pace. With nation-building or world-building, the more wives a man has, the easier the task will be for all concerned.

Now, don't get me wrong. Some of my favorite people on this planet are homosexual. They are wonderful friends. They understand what it is like to suffer with a difficult situation. Most of them have a great deal of compassion. Nevertheless, I realize (and most of them realize) that they pay an extremely high price for their condition or affliction. That's just the reality of the situation. Nowadays, the greatest joy in my life usually comes from tending and interacting with my grand-daughter. She is mine. She is mine in a way that my wife can never be mine. My grand-daughter has all of my best bits within her; and, she is a great deal of fun.

I visualize the Eternal Realms, or the Heaven that concerns us, as a place where God the Father presides with many Goddesses or Wives at His side to help Him fulfill the task of world-building or nation-building. Some have suggested that in the future, more women than men will go to the Third Heaven or the Highest Heaven; thus, the pattern will hold, and there will continue to be ten times more Goddesses in Heaven than Gods. When it comes to world-building and the creation of life, Goddess are much more important and much more necessary than Gods. In the end, it's all about the Goddesses; whereas, it only takes one God or one male to get the job done.

I find that when dealing with speculative subjects such as this one, it is best to keep one's mind open to all the various possibilities. After reading some of this, one person kindly pointed out that in Heaven there is no time. That person then asked, “So, what's the rush?” In Heaven, one Mother in Heaven is more than enough, especially if She is given all eternity to get the job done. Makes sense to me. Let's face it, there's probably some Goddess out there who is eager to produce a trillion offspring of her own and eagerly looking forward to her second trillion. When trying to build or create, we need all kinds; and, each person has his or her part to play. It's always easier to destroy than it is to create. One can spend an eternity trying to build or create something wonderful, and another can come along and destroy it all within a minute or two. We simply do not know how many Mothers in Heaven there really are; and, we simply assume for logic's sake that there is more than one God and more than one Goddess in Heaven. After all, it didn't stay “Adam and Eve” and “Abraham and Sarah” for long here on this earth, so why should it be any different in Heaven?

This person is right, the rush or need for efficiency really only applies to mortals, where a couple has to accomplish all of their child-birthing before the child-bearing years are over. As mortal beings, we each have ahead of us a battle that we are destined to lose; therefore, if we are going to get it done, there's no time like the present. On the other hand when it comes to the afterlife, if more women end up going to Heaven than men, and if every woman who goes to heaven is given a husband so that she can have offspring or Spirit Children of her own, then there might indeed be the need for one man to have more than one wife, even Heaven. As I see it, it's circles within circles – one eternal round. I've been known to say that one mommy is worth ten daddies. This is especially true whenever we are dealing with young children, especially here in mortality. I can only assume that some of the same principles and ideas would also be applicable in Heaven.

While discussing this essay, I wrote this to a friend: “Feel free to change your mind all you want!! While writing these essays and studying these topics, I have found myself changing my mind on an hourly basis. It goes with the territory.” Following Dr. Margaret Barker's example, I have found it important and helpful to keep an open mind and not to lock oneself into any particular point of view. Just remain flexible and go with it.

Now, let's try a case study and apply some of this to a society that existed at the dawn of our recorded history, the Egyptians; and, let's see what they believed regarding God and Goddesses.

I have noticed that when it comes to all of this, some people can handle it better if they label it as mythology rather than trying to label it as 'the way things really are'. Therefore, at this point in this essay, I feel that it would be useful to discuss Egyptian mythology and the Egyptian pantheon (Egyptian Gods and Godesses and the Egyptian Temple Ceremonies), because the ancient Egyptian world-view or schema actually lends credence and support to some of the claims and ideas that I am presenting here.

In Christianity, they have a Trinity or a Godhead, which consist of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. I find it particularly interesting that in ancient Egyptian theology and temple rites, there is also a Trinity or a Triad, which consists of Father, Son, and Mother. That's right, Mother! In Egyptian temple ceremonies, Heavenly Mother takes the place of the Christian Holy Ghost, within the Trinity, Triad, or Godhead.

Within ancient Egyptian temple ceremonies, Heavenly Father is called Amun or Amun-Ra. Heavenly Mother is depicted by the Goddess Hathor (the Cow Goddess, the Goddess of Motherhood, the Goddess of Love, and the Tree of Life) or sometimes the Goddess Mut (the Mother of the Gods). Mut means “mother” in ancient Egyptian. Mut is the Queen of the Goddesses and the Lady of Heaven. Mut is the Goddess of Waters, and we each are birthed out of water. The Waters also symbolize or represent the Heavens, or the Heavenly Expanse, or the Primordial Waters, or the Sea of Stars, or the Cosmos, or the Universe. Hathor and many of the other female Goddesses within Egyptian religion are frequently depicted as Tree Goddesses or Trees of Life and the source of Living Waters. We are born here into mortality out of a watery womb; and, we are reborn (resurrected) into immortality through the Waters of Life or the Goddesses. In many of the ancient pictures, the Tree of Life springs forth from a Fountain of many waters, or grows forth from a spring, or springs forth from the Horizon or the Universe. Notice how there is not much to be said about Father, but there is a ton of stuff that can be said about Mother.

There tend to be many more good Goddesses than good Gods in every mythology. This makes sense to me, especially given the fact that most the evil gods in mythology seem to be male in gender or function – sometimes depicted as being androgynous. The evil gods and goddesses are anti-creation, anti-life, anti-salvation, anti-exaltation, and pro-choice. They are the gods of chaos, darkness, disorder, death, evil, war, abortion, and destruction. Obviously, there are evil goddesses in every mythology, but they just as well be male and are sometimes classified with the males. They typically function as if they were male.

The search for evil goddesses can be an interesting side-study – we can see what a Goddess truly is by examining what she is not. Based upon ancient beliefs or mythologies, if a female refuses to become a mother and chooses to be celibate, she just as well be a man, and is often numbered among the men or the evil gods for all the good that her femininity does her. In contrast, the good Goddesses are the ones who give nourishment and life. Female sterility was typically seen as a curse among the ancients, the greatest misfortune that could befall a woman. These people are simply telling it as they see it.

Let me give a few examples of evil goddesses from the various mythologies, so that they can be contrasted with the good Goddesses. We are familiar with the hag or evil witch, that likes to cook and eat little children – see Hansel and Gretel. In Irish mythology, there is the Banshee who is an omen of death. There are the Sirens, Harpies, and Mermaids of Greek Mythology. Look up Lilith, Adam's first wife. Lilith had a reputation for strangling and suffocating children in their sleep, which would explain why Lilith had no children of her own that survived into adulthood. Lilith is sometimes listed as the goddess of the night or as some kind of demon. In modern times we would call her the goddess of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) or the goddess of Abortion. This would explain why Adam liked Eve a lot more than he liked Lilith. Lilith was female, extremely good-looking, and seductive; but, her femininity and good looks served no useful function in the end.

The evil gods and goddesses are abortions or stillborn or unnatural or psychotic or dead in some form or another – they have some kind of fatal flaw or represent some kind of dead-end. They are psychological, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual abortions or abominations. Others would say that they are simply selfish. They refuse to get with the program, which is all about life and creation. It's their choice. They are gods after all. They could choose to go the way of life and creation if they wanted to do so; but, they choose not to. Instead, they become the god and goddesses of evil, darkness, war, and death. They become anti-life.

Within Egyptian temple ceremonies, the Son is typically represented by Horus (a pre-mortal and mortal messianic type of God) as well as by Osiris (who died as Horus here on earth and was then resurrected or reborn as the God Osiris through the aid of His wife Isis). Horus and Osiris are often depicted as being one and the same. Isis is “She of the Throne” or the Throne Goddess. Isis is depicted both as the wife of Horus/Osiris and as the mother of the resurrected Osiris. Horus (Osiris) was killed here in mortality by his brother Set (Satan); and then through the aid of His wife Isis, Horus rose from the dead as the God Osiris and ascended into Heaven, where his heavenly mother Hathor placed Him on the Throne of Heaven or the Throne of God, his Father's Throne.

In Egyptian mythology (and many other mythologies such as Lord of the Rings), the Western Horizon or the Western Seas represent the afterlife, which means that the Eastern Horizon or Eastern Seas logically represent our pre-mortal life. The moon (Khonsu or Son) rises in the east and sets in the west. The sun or falcon (in this case Horus/Osiris or you and me) is born in the east and dies in the west, and then flies back to the east during the night to be reborn (resurrected) again. What happened before mortality is our pre-mortal life; and, what happens after mortality is our afterlife.

What is interesting is that in Egyptian mythology the Lady at the Horizon meets us at the Western Horizon after we die, where she sustains us and restores us in preparation for our night-long journey to the Eastern Horizon where the Great Mother (our Mother in Heaven) raises us from the dead, resurrects us or re-births us into a glorious immortal physical body like what happened to Osiris, and then places us on the Throne of the Rising Sun (Ra) in the East. Thus the Eastern Horizon or Eastern Seas end up representing our Eternal Life. The circle is complete. We have returned to the place from which we started, in the East.

Note: The command in the Bible to be perfect even as our Father in Heaven is perfect actually means to be complete or to be completed like our Father in Heaven is completed. In other words, complete the ascent into Heaven or complete the journey back to Eternal Life. That's the kind of perfection Christ is talking about in the Bible; it's the temple ascension rites back into the Presence of the Gods and Eternal Life.

In Egyptian temple rites, there is also the God Thoth who is the Divine Guide, the Keeper of the Book of Life, and the Temple Secretary or Recorder. He is called the God of wisdom, knowledge, writing, and science. Thoth has a wife named Maat. She is not a door-mat. Maat is the Goddess of truth, balance, order, law, morality, and justice. I see all of these as functions of the Christian Deity that we call the Holy Ghost. When applied to the concepts that I have proposed in this essay, Thoth would be Mr. Holy Ghost, and Maat would be Mrs. Holy Ghost.

Obviously, the fact that the Christian Holy Ghost has been replaced by Heavenly Mother within the Egyptian Triad or Trinity could serve to identify the Holy Ghost as our Mother in Heaven. So, which is it? Is the Holy Ghost our Mother in Heaven? Is the Holy Ghost some kind of Priestly Male Deity and member of the Godhead? Or, is the Holy Ghost a married couple – Mr. Holy Ghost and Mrs. Holy Ghost? As is my way or my tendency, my answer would be “Yes”. I would say yes to all of the above; the Holy Ghost is all of the above and so much more. The Holy Ghost can be looked upon as a title or a role, and many different individuals (male and female) can serve in the role and wear the title of Holy Ghost all at the same time. In Egyptian mythology, there are a multitude of good Goddesses but they are often mixed together and seem to function as one – as givers of life or as The Giver of Life.

The Holy Ghost functions an Elias, for those who are familiar with the meaning and function of the term. One of the definitions for Elias is a group of many different people who function as if they were one person. Elias would be called “Legion” in the evil pantheon of spirits and demons. In contrast, the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit is the name for the Chariot of Fire that took Elijah back into heaven. The Holy Spirits serve as guides during our journey here in mortality, so that we don't get too far off track. The Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost came in the Sign of the Dove after Christ's baptism; and, so forth. The Holy Ghost is many different people working as if they were one. “God is in the rain”, for those people who recognize the quote. Others have been known to say, “God is the wind”; the Holy Ghost is like the wind.

Finally, in the Egyptian temple ceremonies, the mortal initiates (you and me) would follow Horus/Osiris (and sometimes Amun and Hathor) through the various check-points here on earth and then back into Eternal Life or the Heavenly Realms, where our Heavenly Mother (Hathor or the Goddess of Motherhood or the Goddess of Charity) would then re-birth us into immortality so that we become Gods and Goddesses, would coronate us or glorify us, and then would place us on the throne of our Father (Amun-Ra).

Now, let's review:

The Father (Amun-Ra) is the source of all life, and power, and light, and creation. I see Him as the seed of creation, the power of creation, or the sire of creation. He is the father of our spirits or our souls. Amun is the King of the Gods, or the Father of the Gods. Amun is the Paternal God. The functions of the Father God are often combined into Amun-Ra. Ra is the God of the Sun or the Sun God. Ra is depicted with a falcon's head, thus he flies through the sky like the sun and is the father of the falcons or the Spirits that exist in the Heavens. Notice that it is the sun (Ra) that gives light and life to all of the trees (Goddesses) so that they can live and exist. And, it is the trees that give nourishment and life to mortals like us. In fact, within Egyptian mythology, the trees (Goddesses) are involved with giving nourishment, purification, rejuvenation, physical life or physical rebirth, spiritual existence, spirituality, and spiritual rebirth in the pre-mortal realms, here in mortality, and in the afterlife as well. The Egyptian Goddesses seem to be both Holy Spirits and real live females who give birth and life and purification to our spirits (the Waters of Life), rebirth us bodily or physically when needed or appropriate (Resurrection), and give birth to our spirituality or spiritual attributes as well (Spiritual Rebirth). The Father cannot exist without the Mother; and, the Mother cannot exist without the Father.

The Son and our brother (Horus and Osiris, or Christ, or the Fraternal God) is the one who shows us the correct path through mortality and by example leads us on our journey back to Heaven, immortality, and Eternal Life. In Egyptian mythology, the Son is sometimes represented by Khonsu, the God of Youth and the Moon God. The God of the Moon, Khonsu, means “traveler” and implies the journey away from our Heavenly Home that we each make when we come here to mortality. However, most Judea-Christians are more familiar with the Savior or Messianic figure that is represented by the Son (Horus/Osiris). The Son is the first one to die here in mortality and then be resurrected from the dead into immortality. The Son is the first of the New Generation of Gods and Goddesses. When He is resurrected, He comes back into the same physical body that He had before He died; but now, His physical body is immortal, glorified, and indestructible.

Let's continue with the ascension process contained within the ancient Egyptian temple rites and ceremonies. After our death here in mortality, the Lady at the Western Horizon nourishes us and prepares us for our falcon-like journey through the skies back to the East, where we will receive the Heavenly Embrace, or be hugged by Father and Mother and welcomed back home. After our return to Heaven at the Eastern Horizon, it is Mother or the Maternal God (Holy Spirit or the Mother of Our Spirit or Hathor or Heavenly Mother or the Great Sycamore Tree or the Tree of Souls or the Tree of Life) who then gives us the Crown of Eternal Life and births us (resurrects us bodily) into Eternal Life or the Eastern Sun-Filled Skies by placing us upon the Throne of God, surrounding us or crowning us with glory, and clothing us in fire like a new day dawning. At the end of the journey, our Mother in Heaven baptizes us with fire or spirituality and thus births us into Eternal Life, Glory, and Godhood. The circle is complete. The journey is complete. We have been perfected or completed. We have ascended; and, now we are Gods.

Cool, huh?

There is the whole plan of life and salvation laid out before us from the Egyptian temple rites and funerary texts. I can see why Hugh Nibley had a lot of fun and got a lot of enjoyment from the Egyptian temple ceremonies and funerary texts. Ever since my Boy Scout days forty years ago, I have always been interested in mythology, which meant Greek mythology (I taught the Astronomy merit badge at summer camp, among many others). It wasn't until recently that I realized that the truly interesting and useful mythology is in fact the ancient Egyptian mythology and the ancient Egyptian pantheon. Of course, Stargate SG1 helped a bit as well.

Now, let's go back to the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost within the Judea-Christian tradition. If we treat the words, “Holy Ghost”, as a title or as a family business, it actually helps to explain a few things. Throughout Proverbs in the Bible and other Wisdom books, the Holy Spirit is given the name “Wisdom”, and Wisdom is always feminine. Wisdom is a Lady, a Goddess, a concept that makes some men uncomfortable. I have heard it said that by giving birth to children and nurturing children, a woman becomes wise to the true meaning and purpose of life, long before a man ever does.

If the Holy Ghost is a God, a member of the Godhead, then I find it logical to assume that He has (or will have) a Goddess, or many Goddesses, that help Him to run the family business. Many hands make light work of a difficult task. The Holy Ghost business only really needs one male; but, I visualize many female spirits or Goddesses working together to make the business realistic and feasible. The Holy Spirit is assigned the task of giving birth to our spirituality, of bringing light and life and wisdom and comfort into our lives. In many ancient traditions, the Holy Spirit is the mother of our spirits and thus the mother of our spirituality as well. It has been said that there are no boy angels. Well, there are certainly no boy Goddesses. Some have suggested that we each have been assigned a guardian angel to keep watch over us and help us through mortality. I suggest that chances are good that our guardian angels are in fact female in gender, holy spirits in the Holy Spirit business. If we visualize the Holy Ghost as the title of a family business, it can add depth to our understanding of the Holy Spirit and its mission.

Thus, whenever someone says that the Holy Ghost is a man, we can respond wholeheartedly and say, “Yes, He is.” Likewise, whenever someone says that Holy Spirit is a Lady, the Lady Wisdom, we can safely respond and say, “Yes, She is.” In fact, I visualize the whole Holy Ghost business as a family business, with one male presiding and multiple Goddesses doing the actual real work of the business. Thus, the Holy Ghost has a wife, whose name is Wisdom. He has a wife named Truth. The Holy Ghost also has a wife named Faith. He has a wife named Charity. He has a wife named Hope who gives birth to hope in our lives. He has a wife named Virtue. He has a wife named Chastity. He has a wife named Holiness. He has a wife named Kindness. He has a wife named Mercy who gives birth to mercy in our lives. He has a wife named Righteousness. He has a wife named Purity. He has a wife named Sanity. And so forth. They are all married together into the same purpose, the Holy Spirit business. Most if not all of these spiritual attributes are described in feminine terms within the Judea-Christian scriptures; and thus, these attributes of spirituality might each be represented or backed by a different female Deity or Goddess. All of the different Holy Spirits, that make up spirituality, could in fact be wives to the male Deity that we call the Holy Ghost. For a long time now, I have believed that the Holy Ghost might be more than just a single individual.

In summary, there seems to be a distinct difference between the Office of the Holy Ghost and all the many different Holy Spirits that perform the duties and the work of the Holy Ghost. The Male Deity that we call the Holy Ghost is the one who runs The Office. And, it's the Goddesses or Holy Spirits that seem to do all of the field work, outside work, or real work that is associated with the Office of the Holy Ghost or the Department of the Holy Ghost. As a male, whenever I take on the role of Mr. Mom, the best results accrue when I take guidance and instruction from the child's mother. Whenever it comes time for the Holy Ghost to perform in His role as mother, it's through one of the Goddesses that He does so.

Once again, it's all about the females, the Goddesses. It only takes one man to get the job done; but, the more wives or mothers the merrier, for all concerned. Since many people assume that more women are going to the Highest Heaven than men, it's only logical that it should be about the females in the end – the creators of life, and light, and comfort, and spirituality, and joy.

If God the Father has multiple wives, each wife responsible for her own nation; and, if the Holy Ghost has multiple wives, each wife responsible for a different aspect of spirituality; then, it would be logical to conclude that Jesus Christ or Jehovah has more than one wife or will have more than one wife when all is said and done. The Catholic concept of the Catholic Nuns as the wives of Christ or the brides of Christ might not be far from the truth or the reality, in the end. Heaven is a matriarchy, with the title of God or Nation Builder or World Builder given to the man in order to give him some respect and give him something to do. The man is in the construction business and record-keeping business, minor side-concerns; but, it's the females who do the real work and the real acts of life and creation.

Lucky is the man who has a good wife. All the luck in my life came in the form of my wife.

My talent in life is the ability to start with a few simple assumptions and then follow them through to their logical conclusions or logical consequences; and, I have the good sense to know when I have been conquered or beaten. If we start with the assumption that the Gods come in pairs, male and female, husband and wife; and, if we add to that the assumption that it is possible to become Gods as adult spirits while in the pre-mortal realms, then a whole host of interesting possibilities open up. A man becomes a God when He is married to a group of Goddesses and does their bidding. If there are infinitely more Goddesses than male Gods, Heaven starts to look more and more like a matriarchy, which some people claim Heaven to be. This reality becomes even more believable to me, given the fact that I have been surrounded all my life by strong, powerful, forceful women who like to be in charge and run the show, women who want me to come at their bidding and leave at their command.

Of course, this is all personal opinion and personal speculation – that's why I (initially tried to) quote no authority or input other than my own. I have not received any kind of revelation from God letting me know whether these ideas are correct, or not. But, it all seems logical to me. Things here on earth serve as a pattern for the way things are in Heaven. If you step into most churches here on this earth, the females clearly outnumber the males. I think it's that way for a reason. If you are going to build and populate nations (especially during the Millennium), it's going to require a huge number of females to do so. It's all about the females, and the males only have a small part to contribute towards such a task. The real work, the important work, is done by the females or the Goddesses. I think the Goddesses coordinate and plan all of this among themselves, and the man performs as necessary at their pleasure.

Best wishes to all,

Mark My Words

Suggested Study Material:

A lot of this can be overwhelming. It was for me at first. Some describe Dr. Margaret Barker's “Temple Theology” as trying to drink from a fire hose. I agree.

Some Latter-day Saints have written to me and said, “You should limit yourself to the revealed word or the revelations of God and leave the rest of this alone.”

This was my response: “Questioning leads to revelation and further insight – that's the process that Joseph Smith used. So, I'm not going to stop questioning or stick with only what has been revealed, because I am seeking further light and knowledge. The purpose of the Academy for Temple Studies and Temple Theology is to move beyond what has already been revealed, and that's also the purpose for my 'Of God and Goddesses' essay; but, thank you for the suggestion!”

If you desire to pursue these concepts in more depth, I recommend that you look at the Conference Videos at The Academy for Temple Studies:

http://www.templestudies.org/home/

Or, look for and subscribe to the Academy for Temple Studies on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZGYrQeZ5xkZfJ5Q7mjZonw

Watch the videos, then draw your own conclusions. That's what I did. Have fun with it.

Granted, it's all just guesswork and assumption (a.k.a archeology and interpretation of ancient writings); but, I had some fun watching their videos and thinking about it all. No, I haven't watched every single one of their videos, yet. However, I hope to do so as time allows. I have watched most of them, with the exception of the Introductions and Panel Discussions. I get the impression that they will be making more videos and speeches, which is a good thing. It's an interesting, and I believe important, topic for all of us. If there is indeed an afterlife, I think it would be important to know how to prepare for it, and I think it would be interesting to have some idea what we might find ourselves doing while we are there.

It has been interesting to observe the few responses that I have received. There really doesn't seem to be all that many people on this planet who are interested in this topic. Apparently, I am a weird and crazy guy for being fascinated by all of this.

http://www.ldsfreedomforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=33106

Additional Note:

Footnote Regarding Sources: Unless stated otherwise, all quotes and questions are from my Facebook page or from a thread that I created on LDS Freedom Forum regarding this subject:

http://www.ldsfreedomforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=33106

A Closing Message:

Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read this essay; and, thank you for any feedback that you have given.

I haven't had time to proof-read all of this, for obvious reasons. It is huge. It's a book if the supplementary essays are taken into consideration; and, I am trying to do it in my spare time. However, one person recently asked to see it now. Just remember that it is a work-in-progress; and, I will be making changes where and when the need arises. I have also been asked to break it down into smaller pieces, which I have done.

If you have comments or suggestions, feel free to make them at:

http://www.ldsfreedomforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=33106

It's a work of speculation, so don't be afraid of offending me with opposing points of view. As you can probably see from reading my various essays, I am open to all ideas and suggestions, even the ones that disagree with my original assumptions. They give me new and interesting ideas to think about. When it comes to this topic, I refuse to draw a line in the sand and then stand behind it.

Best regards,

Mark My Words

23MAY2014 Version.