'Woman is one of God's faces', and water has always been a symbol of life, water is also a symbol of "the Goddess". The great Mother Goddess, Zzis, in Jewish known as Shechonach, Sofia, Mrs of the slaves who is present in all religions of the world.
If you found shocking what you read above, or at least intriguing or even inspiring for some, this is the book that uncovers another face of God. Paulo Coelho is one of the greatest writers of all. Born in 1947 in Brazil began his writing career from writing texts for songs and worked as a journalist. In age of 38 he fulfilled his dream of becoming a world wide respected writer. His first novel Alchemic made him one of the most popular contemporary writers, his books have been translated into 66 different languages across 150 countries. Paulo is a columnist is most readable magazines across the world, he is ' not only one of the most widely read, but also one of the most influential authors writing today.' (Ref.2) He is an adviser for UNESCO, works for ONZ and since 2002 he has become a member a Brazilian Academy of Literature.
If all that doesn't inspire you to look into his creativity, simply read through this article to find out how a trainee journalist from the University of Winchester reads through the following books of Paulo Coelho trying to explore spiritual pathways of life. Paulo found his fascination with the spiritual quest back from his hippie days, when he travelled the world learning about secret societies, oriental religions, etc. Reading his books can be a beginning to every one's 'spiritual quest' as the truth is always where where the faith is.
In his book, I sat by the river Piedra and I cried, Coelho writes that before Christianity overtaken the world Celts ruled it and in Celts culture Goddess was the highest power. People cherished women, loved them and admired as impersonation of God.
Every time a man with honest heart follows faith, will find God, and even be capable of making miracles. No matter what religion, as there is no right or wrong one. Since core of every religion is perfecting yourself and finding a piece with yourself and others, and being good to others and through that connecting to God, finding God.
Knowledge is not enough we have to search through deeper and go into spheres that are further under the layers of metaphysical to find ourselves.
Choice of faith, well, which ever one we decide to go into deeper and discover its traditions and practices, it does not matter. Which ever religion we choose, Christianity, Islam, Hindu or Buddhism and any other, God will be there, despite having many names and impersonations. Essence of faith is one and as long as we are good and do good and believe we can reach as far as we want. The core of all religions is love, happiness, finding piece in yourself and share it with others as well as finding a balance of good and evil in yourself. Through all that reaching metaphysics of life and finding yourself in it. So be good and do good, in fact, there is no one else who understands love, sacrifice and giving a new life more than women.
If there is a question to whether God could be a woman or not, the answer is, absolutely yes!
If we look at the history of the human kind, women have not been cherished enough, further more, they very often have been put in a shadow of men, in one way or another, after all all the main religions of the world clearly point out a male impersonation for their God. Burning of the "witches" by Christians. Catholicism introduces the God to be of no sex, but, at the same time, paradoxically, puts a male as a head of the church ( Catholic pope), only men can be priests (unlike Protestants) and translates directly God's name (Jahve) as a male name and his only child as son of God, Jesus of Nazareth. Islam has God as a male and their profit is Jesus are again, males. Hinduism, considered one of the oldest religious and philosophical systems in the world " is a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, monism, atheism, agnosticism, gnosticism (...), well, these are just few among other "isms" I found in description of this religion. In few words, its concept of God is pretty complex and depends upon each particular tradition and philosophy. (Ref.4)
Most Hindus believe that the "spirit or soul — the true "self" of every person, called the ātman — is eternal. (Ref.4) "The Ātman is a philosophical term used within Hinduism, especially in the Vedanta school to identify the soul whether in global sense (world's soul) or in individual sense (of a person own soul). It is one's true self (hence generally translated into English as 'Self') beyond identification with the phenomenal reality of worldly existence." (Ref.3) It is a religion that genuinely has numerous Gods and Goddesses but the story does not end here. Being a predominant religion of India (80% of the people in India are Hindus, Ref.6), and playing a central role in the lives of most Indians.(Ref.6)
" There are very few texts specifically dealing with the role of women; an important exception is the strIdharmapaddhati of Tryambakayajvan, an official at Thanjavur around c.1730. The text compiles strictures on womanly behaviour dating back to the Apastamba sutra (c. 4th c. BCE).The opening verse goes:
'mukhyo dharmaH smr^tiShu vihito bhartr^shushruShANam hi' :
the primary duty of women is enjoined to be service to one's husband where the term shushruShA (lit. "desire to hear") covers a range of meanings from the devotee's homage to god, or the obsequious service of a slave." (Ref. 7)
Further on, the same source on Wikipedia describes what seems to be a very interesting change in history. "In Ancient India, scholars believe that in ancient India, the women enjoyed equal status with men in all fields of life. However, some others hold contrasting views. Works by ancient Indian grammarians such as Patanjali and Katyayana suggest that women were educated in the early Vedic period[ Rigvedic verses suggest that the women married at a mature age and were probably free to select their husband. Scriptures such as Rig Veda and Upanishads mention several women sages and seers, notably Gargi and Maitreyi. Some kingdoms in the ancient India had traditions such as nagarvadhu ("bride of the city"). Women competed to win the coveted title of the nagarvadhu. Amrapali is the most famous example of a nagarvadhu. According to studies, women enjoyed equal status and rights during the early Vedic period. However, later (approximately 500 B.C.), the status of women began to decline with the Smritis (esp. Manusmriti) and with the Islamic invasion of Babur and the Mughal empire and later Christianity curtailing women's freedom and rights. Although reformatory movements such as Jainism allowed women to be admitted to the religious order, by and large, the women in India faced confinement and restrictions. The practice of child marriages is believed to have started from around sixth century. (Ref.7) Arranged marriages are still existent in countries like India, Pakistan or Bangladesh till these days, some sources like Asian Tribune, describe that 'Child marriages persist in rural India', which was a headline from an online news article. (Ref.8) In this article, the author states clearly that his stories "illustrate the crime of child marriage. Although illegal, the practice of child marriage is widespread and accepted by the majority of Indian society, especially in the many rural areas of the country" and that was an article from 2006. Further more, another news article with the headline "India child marriages flout law" (Ref.9), from BBC newsnight website from 8th June 2006 talks about " Hundreds of mass weddings, with children as young as four, take place across India every May despite the practice being outlawed." (Ref.9) That was four years ago, in an article from 2010 from Visbo online magazine I read that "many girls in India get married when they are still kids. Children marriages are banned in this country, but they still happen. Government survey in 2006 reported that 45 % of Indian girls were married being younger than 18 years old. Local police raids child marriage ceremonies when it gets a chance because young girls who are forced to marry boys or old men are often at risk of violence and sexual abuse." (Ref. 10)
Taken all the sources I found were stating the truth, practicing of arrange marriages from the country of Hindu religion is against women's equal rights. After this analysis I dare to conclude that even though Hindu has numerous Gods and Goddesses, its society that religion is an important part of their lives women are not treated equally to men.
In conclusion, all the main religions of the world Christianity, Catholicism, Hindu and Islam some directly or indirectly through traditions or habits of the society or even whole nations were in favour for men rather than women, despite the fact that God or great philosophy had ever been, or should ever be in favour of men or women, equality, fairness, honesty, mutual respect and love should be how human beings should be treated with.
There is a very simple and straight conclusion out of my analysis, if there had been any inaccuracies involved about unequal rights or treating of women it would purely be males ego and need to rule and have power over women, making it a very negative reason to satisfy a males ego.
In these circumstances it is obvious that men would refuse the thought of a God to be a female. Having a thought of a God as a female and women being the ones capable of starting a new life, the ones that carry a new life in them for nine months, sacrificing their well being and sometimes life to start a new one... well all that fits perfectly to a image of the creator. Someone that knows a miracle of giving a new life best is a woman, without women there would be no life, without any female beings there would be no new life. And that is a power that men could never have so the fact that the God could actually be a Goddess in main religions of the world would be very well hidden by men as in that case it would give women even more power and prestige than to men.
References:
1. 'I sat by the river Piedra and I cried' by Paulo Coelho (inspiration for this article and research)
2. Official website of Paulo Coelho: http://www.paulocoelho.com.br/engl/bio.shtml
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atman_(Hinduism)
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism#Concept_of_God
5. http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses.htm
6. http://www.saigan.com/heritage/gods/gods.htm
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_India
8. Asian Tribune, http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/1763
9. BBC News Online, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/5058840.stm
10. Visbo onlne magazine, http://visboo.com/child-marriages-in-india.html
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine#Hebrew_Bible.2FOld_Testament_period
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revelation
14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Soubirous
