Conversations With Rosamonde Miller+

I have learned so much from God
That I can no longer call myself
A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, A Buddhist, A Jew.
The truth has shared so much of Itself with me
That I can no longer call myself
A man, a woman, an angel, or even pure soul.
Love has Befriended Hafiz so completely
It has turned to ash and freed me
of every concept and image my mind has ever known.

- Hafiz, Persian mystic and poet 14th century
- Translation by Daniel Ladinsky

This was the final jewel given to me by Rosamonde Miller+ after some email conversations we've had in the past few days. By way of introduction I had petitioned her for a better understanding of the Divine Feminine. Her responses were thoughtful and heartfelt and I thank you very much for her time and wisdom. Msgr. Jordan Stratford's+ glowing opinion of her was right on the mark.

"I often talk to my congregation and students to the priesthood about not confusing the feminine principle with females. I have found fairly often that the so called "feminine" principle is quite absent in many women and also very present in many men. Our culture has defined as feminine certain qualities such as intuition, perception, ability to see both sides of a situation at the same time, compassion, patience, and many others. It has defined as masculine other qualities such as strength, perseverance, decision making, not being subject to deception and so on. I think that an enlightened being is quite androgynous in all of these positive attributes. The negative ones, such as greed, cowardice, insensitivity, pusillanimity, dramatization of one's live, whinnying, gossiping, betrayal, self-righteousness, just to mention a few, are neither feminine nor masculine. They are just annoyances that people of both genders are often prey to.

Divinity is Divinity, one and indivisible. In my experience (not a belief system, as I hold none) the undefinable essence of Being is in us and all around us, experiencing Himself (I will use He for the sake of brevity) and the rest of the physical world in the unique way that the DNA and circumstances of being a tree, a dog, a cockroach, a man or a woman can provide.

Our perceptions in ordinary consciousness tend to fragment everything into opposites when there is only one whole. That we call it masculine or feminine is only a matter of perspective. I, for instance, don't get what is meant by "female spirituality." Spirit is spirit, and while culture may approach and interpret a mystical experience from a certain perspective, what's experienced has no definable qualities."

- Rosamonde Miller+

Peace and blessings to all and a Merry Christmas