Visions of the Divine Feminine in Medieval Europe (Book Extract) - By John Noyce

Visions of the Divine Feminine in Medieval Europe (Book Extract) - By John Noyce

The word for Wisdom is Chokmah (Hokmah) in Hebrew, Sophia in Greek and Sapientia in Latin. The first and major mention in the Jewish scriptures is in Proverbs  which reached its final redaction in the sixth century BCE or  possibly later. In the opening chapter, 

Wisdom shouts aloud in the street,

She makes her voice heard in the open squares,

From the top of the walls she cries out,

Where the gates open into the city:

‘How long, you simpletons, will you prefer ignorance? (1:20-22)

Later, She states:

I am Wisdom. My neighbour is intelligence. 

I am found in [company with] knowledge

and thought. (8:12)

and makes clear that

My fruit is more precious than pure, fine gold,

And my revenue than the choicest silver.

I walk firmly the way of right,

Where the paths of justice meet,

Bestowing integrity on those who love me, 

And fulfilling their treasuries. (8:19-21)

In the Book of Proverbs Wisdom is presented as the goal of human endeavour. Rather than focusing on the precepts of the law, as in Baruch, in Proverbs the focus is on the ethical demands that Wisdom imposes on all humans.

In the later Book of Baruch, a compilation of biblical themes that scholars date to between 200 and 60BCE, Wisdom is alluded to:

Who has ever climbed the sky and caught her to bring her down from the clouds?

Who has ever crossed the ocean and found her to bring her back in exchange for the finest gold? No one knows the way to her, no one can discover the path she treads. (3:29-31)

The Book of Ben Sirach, also known as the Wisdom of Ben Sira and as Ecclesiasticus, was written in Hebrew by an Egyptian Jew, and translated into Greek by his grandson, Jesus ben Sirach. In its Hebrew form it may date as early as 190BCE, and contains poems and sayings similar to Proverbs.  Here we find Wisdom stating:

I came out of the mouth of the most High, and covered the earth as a cloud. 

I dwelt in high places, and my throne is in a cloudy pillar. 

I alone encompassed the circuit of heaven, and walked in the bottom of the deep. 

I had power over the waves of the sea, and over all the earth, and over every people and nation. (24:1-6) 

Whilst this text is more male-centric than the other Jewish Wisdom texts, there is a richly poetic aspect that enables the figure of Wisdom to rise above other issues in the text. 

Perhaps the best description of Wisdom in the Jewish tradition can be found in the Wisdom of Solomon,  written in Greek in Alexandria, Egypt, in the first century CE: 

Wisdom shines bright and never fades; she is easily discerned by those who love her,

and by those who seek her she is found. 

She is quick to make herself known to those who desire knowledge of her; the man who rises early in search of her will not grow weary in the quest, for he will find her seated at his door. To set all one’s thoughts on her is prudence in its perfect shape, and to lie wakeful in her cause is the short way to peace of mind. 

For she herself ranges in search of those who are worthy of her; on their daily path she appears to them with kindly intent, and in their purposes meets them halfway. (6:12-16)

In the early centuries of the development of the Christian church, the meaning of Sophia as Wisdom was the subject of much controversy. In the second century CE, Gnostics developed elaborate mythologies of Sophia, but these were rejected by the mainstream Christian tradition. Most early Christian writers followed the lead of Philo of Alexandria and identified Sophia with the Logos (the Word) and thus, following the New Testament, with the Divine in Jesus Christ. 

Extract from chapter 1 of John Noyce, Visions of the Divine Feminine in medieval Europe (Lulu Books, 2019)

How an Eye Test Could Save You More Than Money By Mitesh Gandhi

Mitesh Gandhi, Clinical Director 
Clamp Optometrist Ltd

Why does a sight test cost £120?

We get this question. And it's a fair one — until you understand what's actually happening during that hour.

At our practice, an eye examination isn't a quick prescription check. It's a clinical health assessment that can take up to 60 minutes. Here's what that time covers:

Screening for conditions like glaucoma, diabetes, and hypertension — diseases that often show their earliest signs in the eye before symptoms appear anywhere else.

Assessing the optic nerve, which is a direct extension of your central nervous system. Changes there can signal far more than a vision problem.

Using Heidelberg OCT technology to capture detailed cross-sectional images of the retina — the same equipment used in hospital ophthalmology departments.

Precision refraction that accounts for how your eyes actually work together, not just whether you can read a line on a chart. That difference is what separates a prescription that "works" from one that eliminates the low-grade headaches and fatigue you've been chalking up to screen time.

There's a reason GPs and ophthalmologists refer patients to us. I recently diagnosed temporal arteritis — a rare autoimmune condition — from what a patient thought was just double vision and headaches. That referral to Addenbrooke's led to emergency treatment within 24 hours.

A prescription is one output of the examination. But it's a small fraction of what we're actually looking for.

Should we still be calling this an "eye test"?

Paintings to Meditate to - by John Watkinson

The Eternal Puja In The Heart
Shri Hanuman and Shri Kartikeya are constantly delivering flowers and Shri Ganesha is the one who
 offers the flowers on behalf of all the deities and the whole universe. 

Shri Ganesha’s Guidance To The Eternal Puja In The Heart

Again Shri Hanuman and Shri Kartikeya are constantly delivering the

flowers while Shri Ganesha gives eternal guidance to us, Shri Mataji’s disciples.

The Destroyer of Obstacles 
Painted during lockdown

'Nothing Greater Than Our Mother'
The story of Shri Ganesha and Shri Kartikeya competing for the prize for who goes around the world three times first. Shri Ganesha is already home after going around His Mother

Divine Mother and Child

The Supreme Goddess in the land of Shri Ganesha

Shri Ganesha protecting His Abode with a staff. A flower is floating in the air towards Shri Mataji

to offer itself at Her Lotus Feet, while Shri Ganesha’s vahana, a  mouse looks on in Devotion

In awe of Your wondrous beauty, the whirling planets, stars and galaxies, silently align to become Your eternal Garland.

The Precious Moment

In this painting it was tried to capture how it was to be in Shri Mataji’s presence.

Also the feeling within, sitting with others, while waiting to see Her.

Divine Story

The artist can be contacted directly by email at:

john.watkinson21@gmail.com

Experiences With An Incarnation by John Watkinson

Book Extract : And Did Those Feet... by John M Watkinson

The Author, John Watkinson, speaking with Shri Mataji

The following are stories from the author about his experiences with Shri Mataji, the founder of Sahaja yoga, who was regarded by many as an incarnation of the Adi Shakti (Primordial Mother) The stories took place in Brompton Square during the early 1980s.

 

 CURE FOR CANCER? 

  One day a young teenager was brought to Brompton Square by his mother and uncle. The boy had some kind of blood cancer and was very weak. The mother and uncle left and said they would return later. Shri Mataji started to work on the boy. Seeing me staining an ornate carved Indian screen nearby, She called me over to also work on him. By now She had the boy laying down, as being so weak, he had difficulty even sitting before Her. Shri Mataji would always ask us where a person was catching*, as if unaware, and with this boy, wherever I said I felt the problem, She chased the negativity around, by moving Her magical feet up and down his body. At first, I was feeling terrible heat and catches in my hands, in my head and moving all over the body. Gradually everything started to clear, and in a short space of time, the vibrations were blowing cool. It was an incredible experience. 

When the boy’s mother returned to collect him, full of energy, he left the house with a typical teenager’s spring in his step.   

  ENJOYING HER OWN VIBRATIONS

  Once there were two suitcases discovered. Both were locked, but there were no keys to be found. Shri Mataji asked that the cases be forced open. When the first case finally burst open, the case was full of Shri Mataji’s holy shoes and sandals. As you can imagine the vibrations were pouring out of the cases and Shri Mataji Herself was standing and enjoying Her vibrations. To those of us present, She said, if we liked any of Her shoes, we could take a pair. That was the best gift, but of course to be here on the earth at this time, to have seen Her, met Her, to have the opportunity to worship Her and to have received the impossible, our self-realisation, is the greatest gift. She is still giving to us every moment. I chose a very worn-out pair of maroon-coloured sandals, that She mentioned having worn all over India.  

  RUNNING UP THE STAIRS 

  One night, as Shri Mataji had encouraged us to stay up one night a week to improve our vibrations, we performed a havan in Chelsham Road. I was handed a book and asked to recite the thousand names of Lord Shiva. After the havan, I felt incredibly clear and went straight to Brompton Square to work. When I arrived, I felt very sensitive in my hands and with Shri Mataji before me, the cool vibrations were pouring into my hands. I have the habit of running upstairs and the next thing I knew, on coming to the stairs, Shri Mataji suddenly ran up them. Amazed, I said, ‘You are running’. She said, ‘when you people are light, I feel light, when you are heavy, I feel heavy’.

This next story, again in Brompton Square during the early 1980s is an example of pushing us

past our conditioning and thinking:

   SHRI MATAJI’S CEILING, PLANNING AND CONDITIONING.

  One day Shri Mataji asked me to fix a piece of ornate silk to the back of a mirror, and

to use wallpaper paste. On my mentioning that I didn’t ‘think’ that it would work with

wallpaper paste, She simply said, ‘just try’. I tried and it worked very nicely, and it went

from the back of a mirror, to applying beautiful, embroidered silk of different designs, to

covering whole rooms. 

Shri Mataji’s bedroom was amazing, decorated with stunning purple embroidered silk,

beautifully framed with ornamental plasterwork. The colour of the ceiling changed many times.

Finally, She asked me to paint it again in a lighter shade of purple, that matched the silk on the walls. 

I was ready to ask for help to move everything out, but to my surprise, She told me to

‘leave everything and just paint it’, not only that, Shri Mataji Herself was also going

to be in the room. I brought in a ladder, a sheet, paint, and paintbrush. Looking up at the ceiling,

I stood there working out in my mind, where to start, and to avoid the paint dripping on the

furniture, where I should place the sheet. At the prospect of painting the ceiling, with not

only the room full of furniture and ornaments, but also with Shri Mataji sitting on Her bed, my brain had

moved into ‘ramming speed!’ At one point I was working out where She was sitting, that I would

have to put the sheet around Her. My thinking was way out of control. Suddenly Shri Mataji snapped me

out of it, by asking ‘what are you doing?’ I answered that I was working out where to start.

Pointing to various parts of the ceiling, Shri Mataji said, ‘you can start here, you can start there,

you can start there, just start!’ I went up the ladder and started painting and painted the whole ceiling,

without getting a drop of paint on anything.

Extracted from: And Did Those Feet available on Amazon