The Bride of Christ

Part 12 turns toward the relationship between the Heavenly Mother and Her spiritually reborn daughter: the Bride of Christ, the Church.

It begins with deuterocanonical writings printed in the 1611 King James Bible — 2 Esdras and the Wisdom of Solomon — where Wisdom is described as Mother, Spirit, the Breath of God, an Indweller of holy souls, Counselor, Comforter, and One who sits beside the throne of God.

Then comes the imagery of the seven lamps. In Revelation, the sevenfold Spirit burns as seven lamps of fire before the throne of the Father; elsewhere, John sees seven golden candlesticks — the seven churches — with the risen Son of Man in their midst. The Church is not only born of the Spirit but indwelt by Her. Like Mother, like daughter. Song of Solomon 6:9 raises the episode’s question: if the Bride is the Bridegroom’s dove, who is “her mother,” the one who bore her?