This, too, is Goddess

Recently, T Thorn Coyle has been discussing the role of immanent Divinity in our world view. If we truly see God Herself as being immanent and transcendent, then all Things are part of Her. This includes inanimate (I use the term loosely, here, of course...) objects as well as living beings, and part of Thorn's discussion is how we are strongly influenced by the dominant monotheistic world-view that sees matter as unimportant at best, fallen at worst. We need to realise the sacredness inherent in every Thing. Part of my practice over the past few weeks has been to try and catch myself when I am doing something routine, such as cooking dinner or brushing my teeth, and saying to myself "This, too, is Goddess". This challenges me, and forces me out of habitual thinking.

Just today I was peeling potatoes for a scrummy gratin and I realised I was in autopilot (or was it trancing?) so I said to myself "this, too, is Goddess". Immediately, I realised my relationship to the potato in my hand had changed - it was transformed from an inanimate vegetable into a sacred Being that was born in the Earth, nourished by wind and rain, harvested by people. I felt the divinity of this small vegetable.

I have been researching I and Thou by Martin Buber, a Jewish philosopher that posited two forms of relationship: the relationship which we see existing between I and Object - distant, cold, unemotional, and the relationship between I and Thou - a sacred relationship that exists between I and God, which is ultimately All. If we can extend our concept of All to actually include all people and objects, we eventually see them as God and ourselves. Maybe this is what Victor was alluding to when he said "God is Self and Self is God and God is a person like myself".