The Fall & Restoration of Divine Masculine & Feminine
“The similarity of imagery associated with Christ and the pagan Celtic Goddess demonstrates that the feminine aspects of the Divine which were suppressed in the mainstream Christian church emerged through the symbolism of the Grail. However, within Christianity itself there is a figure of the Divine Feminine which was lost to the church when the feminine voices of the wells were silenced. Her name is Sophia; she is the personification of divine Wisdom. A major task of the Grail seeker today who quests for the Grail of Christ is to bring Sophia forth from her hiding places within Christian tradition.”
“The Grail questor today who follows the pathways of the Christian mystics will find that Sophia is hidden in the chalice of Christ, just as Jacob Boehme found her hidden in Christ's fountain. For the Grail which is the chalice of Christ is also the cup of Sophia. Recognizing the Grail as a symbol of Sophia continues its traditional representation as the feminine dimension of God. The chalice of Christ's blood which symbolizes the presence of God in the physical world points to the Divine Feminine which penetrates all of creation. Thus the Grail represents the spiritual essence of life which infuses nature. This is Sophia as divine immanence, the World- Soul. A major theme of the Grail stories is the loss of this Grail, the loss of the soul of the world, and the devastation of the land which ensues. As Caitlin Matthews points out, the maidens of the wells are the "voices of Sophia in her aspect of World-Soul."(15) Their retreat from the outer world and withdrawal of the nourishing golden cup is symptomatic of our lack of recognition of the soul of the world. When we are once again able to hear Sophia's message through the voices of the well maidens, we will realize that every created thing is seeded with the Divine. When we drink from her cup, we become aware of the sacredness of the natural world.”
“The Grail as chalice of Christ and cup of Sophia represents the union of the masculine and feminine divine images of Christ and Sophia. This unity may be expressed as "ChristoSophia," the differentiated wholeness consisting of a dynamic balance between "Word" and "Wisdom." Instead of disguising Sophia in the figure of Christ as the early Christians did, the term "ChristoSophia" assures that the attributes of both are clearly expressed. Thus the Grail of ChristoSophia reveals the secret of Jesus Christ as the incarnation of Sophia. As the chalice of Christ's blood contains the essence of Christ which is still alive in our world, it conveys the early Christians' understanding of the resurrected Christ's presence in the world as Sophia-Spirit.”