Aimee
Previously
State of Unbelief
Growing up the LDS church I was immersed in a culture in which there was an inordinate amount of attention given to men. Only men could hold priesthood. The vast majority of leaders in the church were men. The prophet, was a man. At the time it didn’t seem strange or disproportionate. It’s all I knew.
Also a part of my early upbringing was a little discussed understanding that polygamy was an eternal principle. And if ever brought back as a practice, men would have more than one wife. I dismissed my own revulsion to the practice as a personal shortcoming. I figured, I was just not righteous enough to understand or want to practice the fullness of marriage should it be reinstituted. It wasn’t presently being asked of me, so I didn’t obsess on trying to resolve my concerns.
We also understood, though not discussed in any detail whatsoever, that we had a Heavenly Mother. Most Christians believe in only one God. Alone and complete by Himself. The concept of a divine feminine was a unique belief to our Mormon faith and was reiterated only on the rare occasion when we sang the following verse from O My Father,
In the heavens are parents single?
No the thought makes reason stare
Truth is reason, truth eternal
Tells me I’ve a Mother there
It’s likely that we didn’t talk about Her much because these two ideas co-exiting within this incongruent system of unbelief also meant that on an eternal, celestial level, God had more than one wife. Considering our Heavenly Mother in the context of multiple sister wives made people uncomfortable. Deemed too sacred (or maybe too problematic), we just didn’t talk about a Heavenly Mother.
But I loved Her and understood Her in the context of my own mother. Beautiful, nurturing, ambitious, talented, a leader and a teacher. She filled my room with books and taught me to read before I even went to kindergarten.
One night during my childhood I prayed to Heavenly Father and asked Him to relay a message. We weren’t supposed to pray to Mother. That much the church had taught explicitly. Tearfully, I asked Him to tell Heavenly Mother that I loved Her and I missed Her.
Reconnecting to Heaven
Its only been in recent years after leaving the correlated orthodoxy of my childhood religion that I’ve learned that what Abraham (of the Old Testament) accomplished was both tremendous and more importantly, possible. When ordinances are not kept (observed; practiced) in one generation it becomes lost knowledge in the next. In their ignorance, disinherited people are often left to flounder, sensing the profound lack of some crucial information. Abraham recognized the need for and invited a restoration of original truth after generations of apostasy.
He had no one to teach him correctly, let alone set a proper example. There was no good reason he should have even known there was something to search out, except for perhaps recognizing the discrepancies in the paradigm he had inherited contrasting against the truth in the testimony of nature itself.
Considering my previous observations with priesthood, merely holding the authority was given inordinate attention apart from the service it was intended to authorize. If there is no service being performed, the authority is superfluous and the respect misdirected.
For every responsibility that a person bears there is an accompanying authority that they are afforded in order to accomplish the task. For example, to perform baptism a man is ordained with Aaronic Priesthood. If ratified by heaven, he is authorized to perform the ordinance in a manner that is duly recognized. There is living water into which one is immersed, the blood of Christ that justifies, and the Holy Spirit that sanctifies in a baptism of fire.
Feeling like I’ve been given permission through Abraham’s example I’ve looked at nature and recognize that there is something missing in how we understand the order of priesthood and its authority.
Duality of God
First, there is a duality to the nature of God. How do we know this? Look no further than Genesis.
And I, God, created man in my own image, in the image of my Only Begotten created I him. Male and female created I them. And I, God, blessed them.
Gen 5:1-2 (KJV), Genesis 2:8 (RE)
Explicitly we are told that man is created in the image of God. The image of God is MALE and FEMALE. Both. Man (mankind or man kind), like God, means both male and female.
Woman is not a lesser creature, unequal, meant to be a servant, or meant to be one of many. Female is exactly half of both Man and God.
I’ve been asking, seeking and knocking trying to flesh out the feminine side of the equation. Why? Because I’d like to know where I, as a woman, fit into the grand scheme of things.
Either, what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, does not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently until she find it?
Now, contrast this “woman diligently seeking silver” to the following Proverb.
…incline your ear unto wisdom and apply your heart to understanding, yea, if you cry after knowledge and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then shall you understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God; for the Lord gives wisdom, out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
Wisdom is personified in this Proverbs verse, though not capitalized. Wisdom is feminine, as indicated by the use of the “her” pronouns. We are meant to seek for Wisdom.
A great deal can be learned about Heavenly Mother by searching for the word wisdom in scripture. Very often, the reference to wisdom is to Her distinctly and not merely an abstract attribute. If we are blind to Her existence, we cannot see the reference to Her in
those passages. Although many scriptures have the Divine Mother’s words, Her presence is veiled by our ignorance and refusal to acknowledge Her.
The example that the Lord gives in His parable recorded in Luke is that of a woman seeking. Not “man”, or a gender neutral “person” or “child”. The words He chose were intentional.
The Holy Order
As I’ve sought and pulled at these threads, a pattern has unfolded that seems to make sense. I don’t know that I’ve got everything figured out, but I do think that I’m on the right track. I am certainly open to correction from anyone who can persuade me into a greater understanding.
The phrase, “prophet, priest and king”, was preserved in the lines of an unassuming hymn.
He lives, my kind, wise heav’nly Friend.
He lives and loves me to the end.
He lives, and while he lives, I’ll sing.
He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.
He lives and grants me daily breath.
He lives, and I shall conquer death.
He lives my mansion to prepare.
He lives to bring me safely there.
The hymn is clearly referring to and praising Christ, however consider the following three pieces of evidence that these roles are meant to also be occupied by those who would follow Him:
Would to God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them.
Numbers 11:29 (KJV), 7:19 (RE)
Brethren and sisters, if you are true and faithful, the day will come when you will be chosen, called up, and anointed kings and queens, priests and priestesses, whereas you are now anointed only to become such. The realization of these blessings depends upon your faithfulness.
There are currently zero direct references to “priestess” in the canonized scripture. For this second role, I am leaning on the words of the temple endowment.
And the Lord of Hosts, the King of kings, even the King of glory shall come unto you, and shall redeem his people, and shall establish them in righteousness.
Psalms 24:2 (RE)
Jesus Christ is King of kings. But, who are these other kings? Are they kings of the Earth, and He is the greatest of those? That could be, seeing as He is the legitimate King of Israel. However, Jesus stated that “my kingdom is not of this world”. Therefore, the kings referred to are not the formally recognized heads of worldly governments, but kings nevertheless.
I kept coming back to the close association of these three roles and found a confirming witness to my hunch.
The Holy Order, however, when held in its fullness, combines together the prophet-priest-and-king.
Duality in Roles and Responsibilities
[The Holy Order] will include men and women, as husband and wife. They will be given understanding of things which the world cannot know. Initiation into the Holy Order provides greater knowledge and fortifies the soul for one’s ministry.
In essence, the Holy Order is to create of flesh and blood a living, mortal surrogate for the Father and Mother.
It is the nature of this Holy Order that it is conferred upon the man and woman jointly (see 1 Corinthians 1:44).
The Holy Order is familial. It does not involve establishing a church but, instead, connecting together the Family of God, or in other words, the Government of God. This can only be done in a temple prepared for that purpose.
Excerpts from The Holy Order, Oct. 29, 2017
Consider for a moment that for every role that a man occupies, every authority with which he’s been endowed, there is an equal and complimentary role occupied by woman. She is likewise endowed with authority, not any less in efficacy nor divine in legitimacy.
The difference between the two is, again, visibility.
Until things are reversed at the Millennium, it will remain for men alone to perform the public ordinances thus far given to us.
[…]
This answer refers to “public rites” and not to those rites and performances the public are excluded from knowing. The Holy Order conveys blessings and information that is withheld from the world. But men and women jointly obtain the Holy Order.
Only men, acting in the role of priest, can perform public ordinances. The ordinances women perform are private. Not past tense. Not future tense. Now. The ordinances women perform are private.
What is an ordinance?
An ordinance is an established rite or ceremony establishing a covenant containing both promises and obligations.
In the earlier example of baptism, consider the work of a woman in bringing life into the world. The water of the womb, the spirit of the child, the blood of the mother. There is a parallel drawn by the Lord himself between baptism and birth.
Truly, truly I say unto you, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John 3:3
I cannot effectively expound on everything that I’ve been studying over the last several months in a single blogpost, but rather I think it would be more organized to talk about these things in dedicated posts, which will be linked above as they are finished and published.
The roles of Prophet, Priest and King have, in times past, been delegated to different people, such as in the case of contemporaries King David, the priest Abiathar, and the Prophet Samuel.
I would like to suggest that all three, within the Holy Order, are united in the name, Father. Likewise, Prophetess, Priestess and Queen are also rightly united in the name, Mother.
Father, in this sense is not the man who merely sires a child, but the one who does all of the work OF a father.
Children, you know, are fond of tools while they are not yet able to use them. Time and experience, however, is the only safe remedy against such evils. There are many teachers but perhaps not many fathers. There are times coming when God will signify many things man which are expedient for the wellbeing of the saints, but the times have not yet come but will come as fast as there can be found place and receptions for them.
Joseph Smith quoted in Cursed, Denied Priesthood, 07 Jan 2018
Definition of Marriage
The Holy Order not only combines the roles of prophet, priest and king, it requires the presence of a prophetess, priestess, and queen. And these two, united in marriage.
Marriage was, in the beginning, between one man and one woman, and was intended to remain so for the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve, that they may multiply and replenish the Earth.
Like the marriage in Eden, marriage is a sacrament for a sacred place, on holy ground, in my presence, or where the Holy Spirit of Promise can minister.
Whenever I have people who are mine, I command them to build a house, a holy habitation, a sacred place where my presence can dwell or where the Holy Spirit of Promise can minister, because it is in such a place that it has been ordained to recover you, establish by my word and my oath your marriages, and endow my people with knowledge from on high that will unfold to you the mysteries of godliness, instruct you in my ways, that you may walk in my path.
T&C 157:34, 39, 41
Marriage is based upon heterosexual relations because they are connected to procreation. Where procreation is impossible, marriage is irrelevant. And that is the civic explanation against homosexual marriage. It is irrelevant. And the idea that one should have legislation that is regulating private friendships for no reason is a degrading of those friendships.
Mr. Keys, on the Channel 7 debate last Thursday night, you said, and I’m quoting you, “Where procreation is, in principle, impossible, marriage is irrelevant.” You went on to say it was irrelevant and not needed. What about marriage between people who are well beyond their childbearing age? Irrelevant, not needed?
No, no, it’s simply a misunderstanding. The word “in principle” means relating to the definition of, not relating to particular circumstances.
So, if an apple has a worm in it, the worm is not part of the definition of the apple. It doesn’t change what the apple is, in principle.
“It retains its apple-ness”
[audience laughing] …if concepts are laughable means that you want to be irrational. Human beings reason by means of concepts and definition. We also make laws by means of definitions, and if you don’t know how to operate with respect for those definitions, you can’t make the law.
An individual who is impotent or another who is infertile does not change the definition of marriage, in principle, because between a man and a woman. In principle, procreation is always possible. And it is that possibility which gave rise to the institution of marriage in the first place as a matter of law and government. But when it is impossible, as between two males or two females, you’re talking about something that’s not just incidentally impossible; it’s impossible in principle.
And that means that if you say that that’s a marriage, you are saying marriage can be understood, in principle, apart from procreation. You have changed its definition in such a way, as in fact, to destroy the necessity for the institution since the only reason it has existed in human societies and civilizations was to regulate, from a social point of view, the obligations and responsibilities attendant upon procreation.
So when you start playing games in this way, you are actually acting as if the institution has no basis independent of your own arbitrary whim.
Alan Keyes, Oct 2004
The expansion that takes place within a marriage defies both entropy and basic math. One plus one (in my case) equals nine. But as God measures, and if done correctly, one plus one …is infinite.
Link between Temple & Family
Anciently, the temple was the center of life and civilization. If we want to know what went on in the original temple I believe we need look no further than a loving, functional home: a microcosm of heaven, and parents, Father and Mother, a microcosm of Elohim; plural and united God and Goddess.
The command to build a temple in Kirtland came in December 1832 and included the following description:
Organize yourselves, prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a House of God, that your incomings (births) may be in the name of the Lord, that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord (passing into death), that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord with uplifted hands unto the Most High.
D&C 88:119, T&C 86:29
“This should be the description of all our houses and families: a family of prayer, a family of fasting, a family of faith, a family of learning (therefore a family of glory), which brings a family of order, and therefore a house of God. Seven things. Seven is a symbolic number signifying completion, or the perfection of something. It must be built to honor God. He wants us to build it before His return.
“These verses do not need to refer to a building of any size or shape. Consider these verses as a description of families. We should become the temple of God. In the buildings that are temples, ritual is used to depict a symbolic return to God’s presence. This is the goal in our families; parent and children gathering to learn how to return to God’s presence.”
Preserving the Restoration p. 401-402
In a misguided campaign to fracture society into manipulatable tribalism, individual privilege is incorrectly propagandized to be a function of a person’s race and/or melanin levels, gender identity, socioeconomic status or any other number of arbitrary factors.
Privilege does exist. However the greatest privilege that any person could ever have is to be raised, with intention, in their own biological family by their mother and father who themselves are in a loving, committed, marital union. It does not matter the race, culture, nation, nor socioeconomic status. The greatest privilege a child can have is to be raised by their own loving, married parents.
The Rise and Fall of Society
Societies rise and fall based on the strength of its families. Society is a community of families, in various stages of life, learning, and development. No one exists alone outside of the family, for the individual will always be a son or daughter connected through cultural and genetic bonds to mother & father, extending backwards through generations of grandparents. Familial connections also include aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and cousins. Ideally each person will lay the foundations of their own family through marriage, expanding into the future with sons and daughters of their own.
In a fallen world where tyrants rule with blood and horror, the corrupted dynamic often disconnects both men and women from their divine roles. For men it is to protect and provide. For women it is to bear new life, and then nurture and care for them.
Familial success often hinges upon the virtue and morality of men and women despite the prevalent lies of a depraved culture.
Civilization was never meant to be imbalanced between the sexes. It was never meant to be a power struggle. Neither the man without the woman nor the woman without the man.
There is a perfect model of the family. The Gods have achieved it and we can strive for it. Leo Tolstoy summarized this observation in the first line of his novel, Ana Karenina.
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way…
