Many names for it in the course: the Voice for God, the Answer to the separation, our “internal Teacher,” “the communication link between God and His separated Sons,” “the Great Transformer of perception,’ “the Universal Inspiration,” “the great correction principle,’ among dozens of others.
“God created the Holy Spirit to bridge the gap in communication between Him and His children.” - ACIM
“The Holy Spirit’s function is to heal our minds by leading us into a thought system that reflects reality. This is how He guides us home.” - ACIM
Shem
Shem - what Jeshua called the Holy Spirit in Aramaic(?)
שֵׁם (Shem) in Hebrew and Aramaic most directly translates to “name.” But in biblical and mystical tradition, a “name” is not merely a label—it is the essence, the vibration, the presence of the thing itself. To speak the Shem of God is to invoke the power, identity, and spiritual force of the Divine.
The phrase “b’Shem Adonai” means “in the Name of the Lord”, implying action done through the spiritual force or agency of the Divine. There is an ancient mystical teaching—particularly in Syriac Christian and Gnostic circles—that Yeshua referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Shekinta” (Aramaic for Shekhinah, the feminine indwelling presence of God), and at times used “Ruach” (spirit, breath), but also is said to have invoked “Shem” in reference to the sacred Name or Presence of God.
The New Testament, written in Greek, translates the Aramaic/Hebrew ruach as pneuma (πνεῦμα), meaning "spirit," "breath," or "wind." The Holy Spirit is called Pneuma Hagion (Πνεῦμα Ἅγιον), meaning "Holy Spirit."
Sophia
The translation to “Sophia” is symbolic rather than literal.
- In Gnostic and mystical Hellenistic Christianity, Sophia (Wisdom) becomes the Divine Feminine, the emanation of the unknowable Source.
- Sophia suffers separation and fall, and through her restoration comes the return to the Pleroma (Fullness).
- Just as the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, the indwelling teacher, Sophia is the guide, the one who calls the soul back to its Source.
Thus, Shem → Sophia becomes an esoteric gesture: from Name as Presence to Wisdom as Companion.
The traditional Hebrew/Aramaic word for Spirit is:
- רוּחַ (Ruach) = breath, wind, spirit (feminine in gender)
- In Aramaic: Rukha d’Qudsha = the Holy Spirit
- Shem = The Name (the source, the identity, the resonance)
- Ruach = The Breath, the animating energy
- Shekhinah = The Presence, the indwelling feminine aspect of God
In Latin, the Greek Pneuma Hagion was translated as Spiritus Sanctus ("Holy Spirit") in the Vulgate, the Latin Bible.
The Guide Back Home
“He seems to be a Voice, for in that form He speaks God’s Word to you. He seems to be a Guide through a far country, for you need that form of help.”
The Holy Spirit: sets up the events and movements of our lives to bring us back Home:
- guides people to us
- brings about things
- give us our function
- give us all we need to fulfill our function - possessions, money, abundance…
God’s Voice: The Voice for God
Is both God and something God expresses or does… a speaker is using his Voice to speak his Word. God using the Holy Spirit Voice to express his Word
HS is both its own being, its own unique thing - and is intimately God himself.
“Now hear God speak to you, through Him Who is His Voice.” “Listen, and hear your Father speak to you through His appointed Voice.”
“Hear, holy Son of God, your Father speak. His Voice would give to you His holy Word.”
An intimate ongoing conversation
“God would respond to every need, whatever form it takes. And so He keeps this channel [the Holy Spirit] open to receive His communication to you, and yours to Him.” - ACIM
What I have called as the Holy Spirit is not an entity. It is a form of energy. I’ve called it before right-mindedness, which merely means Mind that is operating in alignment with unlimitedness, aligned with the Mind of God. Therefore, what is required, by way of guidance or knowledge, simply flows in an unimpeded way. The Holy Spirit is that aspect of one’s own Mind that is, indeed, and has always remained aligned with the Mind of God. Therefore, it would be very appropriate to say that The Holy Spirit is as your Oversoul, if you will. It is an aspect of your own beingness given and shared equally by all. The Comforter, The Holy Spirit, is right-mindedness, correct seeing, right alignment.
- Way of the Heart, Lesson Eight: Question One
You let go of everything you thought you knew and you asked in prayer. This same way of not knowing is the ultimate state of Knowing. Knowing that the egoic mind does not know is the source of powerful Knowing.
- Way of Knowing, Lesson Three: Question Two
Being Guided by the Holy Spirit
- I don’t know what a single thing is for and I am no longer under the sway of the habits of my perceptions. Holy Spirit, what is the best thing that I can do in this moment?
- trust a Voice that is wholly unseen and the hearing of which may come softly and gently as a nudge in the heart? Only after much listening does it begin to take on the shape of a voice that you can have complete conversations with.
- Every time you ask the question of the Holy Spirit, an answer is immediately given. *Immediately. * *It requires only your willingness to hear with different ears.
“Why not be willing, just for the heck of it, to trust a Voice that is wholly unseen and the hearing of which may come softly and gently as a nudge in the heart? Only after much listening does it begin to take on the shape of a voice that you can have complete conversations with. Why not? Give it a try. What would it mean if tomorrow morning when you woke up, you looked around yourself and said, *I don’t know what a single thing is for and I am no longer under the sway of the habits of my perceptions. Holy Spirit, unseen—and I don’t even know if I really believe in You, but what the heck—what is the best thing that I can do in this moment? Some of you will end up sitting in bed all day waiting to hear, and yet when that happens it’s because you have not acknowledged that you have heard. For every time you ask the question of the Holy Spirit, an answer is immediately given. Immediately. It requires only your willingness to hear with different ears.