Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-02-04
THE DIVINE FEMININE.


An interesting article on "The Divine
Feminine In God" by George Barlow,
appears in Contemporary Review. II Is
copied IN the current number Of Public
Opinion.
Mr.. Barlow reminds his readers that
Swedenhorg used to teach tho dual ma
ture IN the divine order Of government,
and that marriage exists among celes-
tial inhabitants, as among men on
earth. lie also taught that the noblest
attalnable felicity was only to be
reached through perfectly pure, con-
iugal love,
lie, further, points out that the Ro-
man church has met the need OF man
kind for divine mother-love, by It's
doctrine of the virgin mother Of God.
We know. he says, how, for century
after century, the southern nations, es-
peoialy the women OF the southern ma
tons have found comfort and help
through believing that their sorrows
are sympathized with and their bur-
dens shared by the tenderly loving
heart Of the virgin. II is the same idea
---the same inward pressure has pro-
duced 1.-THE idea Of the Divine femln-
Unity,
He also presents another line OF
thought. The finest natures, he says,
combine tho masculine and feminine at
tributes Mere "maleness' Is coarse
and crude. From It. wars, greed, cruel
ty, corruption have sprung, Jesus wept
not IN o oowardly. or hystercal, man
ner but as a natural expression Of love
and pity. Il was feminine, but not ef-
Terminate. It was the visible outcome Of
"the mystery Of the divine feminine In
God"
From such premises the author con-
cludes;
I'VE may gather from all this how ut
terly foolish and futile the ascetic at
tempt TO eXpel sex from the universe
has been. II ~ far more probable that
sex, sex In Deity represented In the
world of matter by tho ceaseless inter-
change OF electrical atilnltlcs, Is the un-
DERIVING fact upon which the whole
cosmos reposes than that sex Is at any
point absent from the universal scheme.
Love, az Dante said drives the sun
and stars along II there were no such
things as seX-if the seX-eement could
be eNtrpated from the unlversc--lt IL
not unlikely that the whole lmmeasur-
able structure would collapse. We may
be pretty confident that universe Con-
tanning no feminine lfe-vibratlons
would either be an impossible universe,
or, II possible, Il would be q universe
Of an Inferior and degraded type"
A logical mind cannot fail to feel the
force Of such reasoning, and the spirit
ually minded instincuyely percelyes
the great truth by It's own radiant light
The Scriptures do not expressly teach
the doctrine, but Il is Enthusiastically
implied in the Biblical account OF the
creation, as we'll as In the entire sys-
TEN OF Scriptural theology, the central
truths OF which are the fathorhood OF
God and the brotherhood OF man. Ia,
therhood and brotherhood imply moth.
erhood, unless the terms are merely
hgurative ana meaningless,
The truth viii finally he accepted
by the children OF men. II is a truth
from which, when fully realized, the
perfect emancipation and ennobling
Of woman win result And then his
tory will record that the Prophet JOS
eph and his followers, whom a blind
and excited multitude accuse Of being
the degraders Of women and the des-
troyers Of home were the first IN this
generation TO proclaim Il, and to crown
womanhood with the divine diadem
which so long had adorned only the
proud heads OF men. And the same
history viii reflect upon the curious
fact. that mortals nearly always at
irst despise and seek to destroy that
which is intended for their happiness
and perfection.