She is Divine Wisdom. She watches over all people and all things in heaven and on earth, being of such radiance and brightness that, for the measureless splendor that shines in Her, you cannot gaze on Her face or on the garments She wears....She is like the Sun, which none can contemplate in its blazing face or in the glorious garment of its rays. For She is with all and in all, and of beauty so great in Her mystery that no one could know how sweetly She bears with people, and with what unfathomable mercy She spares them.



~ Hildegard of Bingen

Over the past centuries, the being of Sophia, or feminine Divine Wisdom, has been emerging from the mists of ancient history...to become a sign and mystery of our times.... wherever we turn, we see traces of her coming—as if tracking the fringes of her mantle as it brushed aside the tangled, sclerotic cobwebs of centuries of cerebration. As she draws near, much that was forgotten is reentering consciousness, not only as memory but also from the future, as possibility. It demands that we rethink who we are, whence we have come, and whither we are going.

~ Christopher Bamford in the introduction to ISIS MARY SOPHIA

At the mystical heart of each of the Abrahamic faiths lie teachings about the transformation power of fire and the identification of the Holy One with light. In Judaism, the Shekinah—the indwelling feminine presence of God—took the form of a pillar of fire at night to lead the Israelites through the desert. ....May we let ourselves down into the arms of fire and allow it to melt the armor of our hearts. The excruciating fire of our loneliness and our fear of intimacy. The sweet fire of our longing for union with the Beloved. The purifying fire of radical unknowingness, which all the great mystics assure us is the beginning of knowing God.

~ Mirabai Starr in LIGHTING THE DARKNESS in The Interfaith Observer

To all that is chaotic in you,

let there come silence.

Let there be a calming

of the clamoring,

a stilling

of the voices that

have laid their claim on you,

that have made their home in you,

that go with you

even to the holy places

but will not

let you rest....

Let there be

an opening

into the quiet

that lies beneath the chaos,

where you find the peace

you did not think possible

and see what shimmers

within the storm.

~ Jan Richardson, "Blessing in the Chaos" in THE CURE FOR SORROW

Sophia Rising retreat: Living the Heroine’s Journey in Edge Times // May 30 - June 1 at Wellspring Retreat Center, Germantown, MD

A women’s retreat celebrating the Divine Feminine. Join us to wander the sacred land of Dayspring listening for the wisdom of the wild inhabitants of woods, stream, and fields. To listen to ancient stories rising out of the heart of the Sacred Feminine. And to gather for council and ceremony woven with the heartbeats of our drums and the power of dancing in sacred circles.

More information and registration details on the Friends of Silence website!