Saint Mary of Magdala A few weeks ago, a woman who had visited my Facebook page sent me a private note saying that she couldn't conscientiously support my page (where I advertise myself as a writer and editor, among other things) since I had misspelled a word within my Facebook username. The offending word? "Thealogical."
I wrote back to her: "'Thealogical' is an intentional spelling, not an error. 'Thea' is the Greek word for 'goddess,' and as a feminist, I choose to regard God as 'Thea' rather than 'Theo.'"
And yes, though I studied theology, I now consider myself a thealogian. Though it looks like a misspelling, anyone who knows me knows, firstly, that I'm an outstanding speller; secondly, that I am a student of ancient Greek; and thirdly, that I am in favor of subverting patriarchal assumptions. "Theological" may be the normative spelling, but it does not represent my "normal." "Thealogy" may not be considered a proper subject of study, but it is precisely the study I engage in daily. I am a thealogian. For me, that means not that I reject male images of God, but that I embrace male and female images of God. In my prayer, I am more comfortable addressing God as Goddess, as Mother, as Daughter, as Womb, as She and Her and Hers. As I look at my two children I see living icons of a young Goddess. The Christ child, in my experience, isn't a son--she is a brilliant daughter. The Christ engaged in ministry is not a thirty-something man, in my experience, but a woman--a woman who looks surprisingly like the person in my mirror, a woman who has known the pains of childbirth and the joys of motherhood and the pleasures and comforts and struggles of an unwaveringly committed relationship.
It amazes me to look back on my Roman Catholic upbringing and see how contrary my thealogical views are to Roman Catholic teaching. In the past, I've hidden or downplayed my feminist and inclusive inclinations, lest someone in power (or with connections to power) discover me and blow the whistle on my waywardness.
I am grateful to be moving into a Catholic tradition in which my thealogy can be treated with seriousness rather than mere suspicion. Perhaps this seriousness is possible because the Anglo-Catholic tradition was made a people's tradition by a woman--Queen Elizabeth, specifically. Perhaps it's possible because the current presiding Anglo-Catholic bishop of the United States is a woman--Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori. Perhaps it's possible simply because I'm a woman who has chosen, at long last, to speak up rather than maintain the theological status quo with her fearful silence.
In any case, I am a thealogian. Take my spelling as a misspelling if you wish, but please don't mistake it as an unintentional one.
I wrote back to her: "'Thealogical' is an intentional spelling, not an error. 'Thea' is the Greek word for 'goddess,' and as a feminist, I choose to regard God as 'Thea' rather than 'Theo.'"
And yes, though I studied theology, I now consider myself a thealogian. Though it looks like a misspelling, anyone who knows me knows, firstly, that I'm an outstanding speller; secondly, that I am a student of ancient Greek; and thirdly, that I am in favor of subverting patriarchal assumptions. "Theological" may be the normative spelling, but it does not represent my "normal." "Thealogy" may not be considered a proper subject of study, but it is precisely the study I engage in daily. I am a thealogian. For me, that means not that I reject male images of God, but that I embrace male and female images of God. In my prayer, I am more comfortable addressing God as Goddess, as Mother, as Daughter, as Womb, as She and Her and Hers. As I look at my two children I see living icons of a young Goddess. The Christ child, in my experience, isn't a son--she is a brilliant daughter. The Christ engaged in ministry is not a thirty-something man, in my experience, but a woman--a woman who looks surprisingly like the person in my mirror, a woman who has known the pains of childbirth and the joys of motherhood and the pleasures and comforts and struggles of an unwaveringly committed relationship.
It amazes me to look back on my Roman Catholic upbringing and see how contrary my thealogical views are to Roman Catholic teaching. In the past, I've hidden or downplayed my feminist and inclusive inclinations, lest someone in power (or with connections to power) discover me and blow the whistle on my waywardness.
I am grateful to be moving into a Catholic tradition in which my thealogy can be treated with seriousness rather than mere suspicion. Perhaps this seriousness is possible because the Anglo-Catholic tradition was made a people's tradition by a woman--Queen Elizabeth, specifically. Perhaps it's possible because the current presiding Anglo-Catholic bishop of the United States is a woman--Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori. Perhaps it's possible simply because I'm a woman who has chosen, at long last, to speak up rather than maintain the theological status quo with her fearful silence.
In any case, I am a thealogian. Take my spelling as a misspelling if you wish, but please don't mistake it as an unintentional one.
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